SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, NOVEMBEE 23. 



ccxxxiii 



Manuring. 



Deficient or no dressing . . . . Value 108 



Moderate dressing (normal! „ 100 



Heavy dressing „ 100 



In the many experiments on this subject, artificial manure or dung 

 was used, the moderate dressing being one of, or equivalent to, twelve tons 

 of dung to the acre. The heavy dressings consisted of two or three (in 

 one case ten) times this amount. Although the soil is by no means 

 specially rich, these dressings, during fifteen years, have had no appreciable 

 effect on the trees or the crops. Possibly they will have eventually. 

 Similar experiments in a poor sandy soil have yielded positive results 

 within four or five years. 



Though apples have not been affected by manures in our soil, these 

 (especially dung) have been found to be absolutely essential for bush fruits 

 and for ordinary farm crops : thus illustrating the great differences in the 

 requirements of different crops. Farmers are advised not to spend money 

 in manuring apple trees without positive evidence that such manuring 

 will have a good effect in their particular soil. 



Effect of Grass, Etc. 



Ground tilled (normal) .... Value 100 



Laid down to grass at once ,, 10 



Laid down to grass after four years . . ,, 27 



Effect of grass 5^ feet from the trees . „ 83 



Ground becoming weed-grown . . . ,,16 



The effect of sowing grass over newly planted trees is all but fatal ; 

 the above values understate the effect, as, during the last few years, the 

 roots have been extending beyond the grassed area. Grassing over well 

 established trees has proved almost as deleterious. Further results on 

 grassing trees established for twelve years will be found below. 



Besides stunting the tree and reducing the crop, grass strongly affects 

 the colour of the bark, foliage and fruit : the latter assumes either a waxy 

 yellow colour or a bright red. In the latter case the result may be advan- 

 tageous for market purposes, provided the action is not carried too far, 

 i.e. by confining the grass to a certain distance away from the stems. 

 The gradual establishment of weeds and grasses does not affect the trees 

 so much as laying the land down to grass at once. 



Precisely similar results have been obtained with standard apples on 

 the crab stock. 



The effect of grass varies considerably in different soils, but hardly 

 any instances have been met with where the effect is nil. The explan- 

 ation is at present obscure, but it has been proved not to depend on 

 questions of moisture, food supply, or air, and is, in all probability, due to 

 some active poison. 



Planting. 



Carefully planted ; trenched (normal) . Value 100 

 Carefully planted ; untrenched . . . „ 209 

 Carelessly planted and neglected . . „ 13 

 Carelessly planted, then tended . . „ 105 

 vol. xxxv. . a 



