122 
THE ORCHARD : MANURING. 
“ for the distinguishing thereof there are many rules, but he that is seated and fixed in any place 
and cannot conveniently change his habitation, must be content with his own, and if any defect or 
disadvantage be in it, it may be that it hath some advantages that others want.” 
Wherever the Orchard may find itself, it is desirable to give it the protection of buildings, high 
quick hedges, woods, or higher grounds to keep off the dangerous spring frosts and blight, and afford 
as much shelter as may be from strong winds, for thus the blossom is often saved from destruction, 
and the crop of fruit when full-grown kept secure. 
Manuring. —Apple and Pear Trees, whether in arable land or pasture, are very insufficiently 
manured. The trees often become weak and exhausted from the heavy loads of fruit they bear, and 
yet their ungrateful owners forget to feed them. This neglect no doubt often gives the explanation 
why so many trees only bear fruit on alternate years. On arable land they take their share of the 
manure supplied for the green crops grown there ; but on pasture land they have only to share with 
the grass the manure from the animals that graze beneath them and enjoy their shade. A careful 
farmer in the neighbourhood of a town may sometimes scatter a few ashes over the Orchard to help 
the grass, but it very seldom occurs to him to think that the trees would be equally grateful for some 
better nourishment. 
The kind of manure best suited for the Orchard may be learnt from the consideration of the 
solid constituents of the tree itself and its fruit, since this analysis must shew the inorganic ingredients 
they demand from the soil. Professor Emil Wolff, of the Royal Academy of Agriculture, Hohenheim, 
Wirtemberg, has made a most careful investigation into the ingredients of the ashes of plants, and 
has published the following results : 1 
Analysis of Ash of Apple Tree Wood. 
Analysis of Ash of the Apple itself (whole fruit. 
One Hundred Parts by Weight, gave : 
One Hundred Parts by Weight, 
gave : 
Potash 
12.0 
Potash 
— 35-7 
Soda ••• ... 
1.6 
Soda 
... 26.1 
Magnesia ... 
5-7 
Magnesia 
8.8 
Lime 
71.0 
Lime 
4.1 
Phosphoric Acid 
4.6 
Phosphoric Acid 
13.6 
Sulphuric Acid 
2.9 
Sulphuric Acid 
6.1 
Silica ••• ... ... ... 
1.8 
Silica 
4.3 
Chlorine 
0.2 
99.8 
98.7 
Loss 
2 
Undetermined Matter, and Loss 
1.3 
100 
100 
(i) From Professor Wolff’s “ Mittlere Zusammensetzung der Asche aller laud und forstwirthschaftlich wichtigen Staffed 
Stuttgardt, 1865. 
Adapted for English use by Professor A. H. Church and W. T. Thiselton Dyer. Macmillan & Co., 1869. 
