Vol. LXXII. No. 4202. 
NEW YORK, MAY 10, 1913 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
FERTILIZATION OF APPLE 
Conditions in Southern 
In “Southern Ohio Fruit Notes,” 
U. T. Cox mentions the beneficial 
of nitrate of soda in ap¬ 
ple orchards. Following 
Mr. Cox’s letter is a 
paragraph of editorial 
comment which states: 
“The use of nitrate of 
soda alone is new to 
most of us. Usually 
phosphate and potash 
give best results.” It is 
neeedless to write at 
length regarding the 
various lines of work 
that the Ohio Experi¬ 
ment Station is doing in 
southeastern Ohio—and 
other parts of the State 
as well—in apple orchard 
rejuvenation, including 
tests of commercial ele¬ 
ments of plant food, on 
the long-tilled and cul¬ 
tivated, over-cropped, 
rain-washed, thin, hu¬ 
mus - impoverished hill 
soils. Bulletins Nos. 217, 
224 and 240 present de¬ 
tails as to the splendid 
adaptability of southern 
Ohio to apple growing 
in the early years of 
agricultural development, 
the causes which grad¬ 
ually led up to the down¬ 
fall of the industry and 
the work of reclamation 
that has been in progress 
since 1909. These bul¬ 
letins are free to all who 
are sufficiently interested 
to write to the Ohio 
Station at Wooster, re¬ 
questing them. 
1 am, however, enclos¬ 
ing two photographs re¬ 
produced in Figs. 213 
and 214 showing the 
same two rows (plots) 
of trees with their re¬ 
spective crops of apples 
barreled ready for stor¬ 
age or market. The first 
photograph was taken in 
the Autumn of 1911 and 
the second in the Au¬ 
tumn of 1912. The trees 
°f both rows are of the 
Home Beauty variety, 12 
tr ees to the row. They 
aie °f the same age 
and quite uniform in 
size, growing 0 n land 
that was uniformly poor 
at the outset, and have 
bun mulched and spray- 
M exactly the same since 
1<j i0. The only differ¬ 
ence in the treatment of 
ORCHARDS. the two rows is that each tree in the row at the left, 
Fig. 213, early in May of 1910 and again in 
’ of 1911 received five pounds each of ni 
on page 402, Mr. and acid phosphate scattered as evenly 
results of the use over the mulching straw, covering a ci 
uy opi V-CLU. 
THE 1911 APPLE CROP—NITRATE AND PHOSPHATE USED AT LEFT. Fig 213. 
THE 1912 CROP—FERTILIZED SAME AS IN PREVIOUS YEAR. Fig. 214. 
d ii i tic idi Liidii in Hi 
of the trees. 
desires to make it clear that the first 
this combination of materials was 
of 1910. At the time, and for 
years previous to that 
time, the foliage of the 
trees was small, scant 
and weak, and of a pale, 
sickly yellowish - green 
color indicating serious 
lack of nourishment. 
Within two weeks from 
the day of fertilization 
the foliage of the fer¬ 
tilized roRv was showing 
much darker in color, 
and the later unfolding 
leaves were much larger 
than on the adjoining 
row of unfertilized or 
“check” trees. The im¬ 
proved appearance of the 
fertilized row was stead- 
fastly mainta ined 
throughout the season, 
and there was, moreover, 
an abundant conspicuous 
development of unusual¬ 
ly large, plump fruit 
buds for the next sea¬ 
son. The unfertilized 
row- remained scantily 
clad in its characteristic 
pale, sickly colored fol¬ 
iage and the fruit buds 
formed were small and 
few in number. 
In the Spring of 1911 
the fertilized row early 
became clothed with 
luxuriant, very dark 
green foliage and a 
wealth of large, strong 
blossoms. The unfer¬ 
tilized row, in compari¬ 
son, was tardy in foliage 
development and slowly 
opened but few small, 
unpromising blossoms. 
The fertilized row was 
again treated with the 
same quantities, by 
weight, of the same ele¬ 
ments of fertility early 
in May, 1911. while the 
check row was permitted 
to remain unfertilized. 
Both rows were again 
pruned, mulched and 
sprayed the same. The 
fertilized row set a 
great crop of fine, 
smooth rapidly growing 
young apples which, later 
on had to be thinned in 
order to restrict the crop 
to that quantity and 
weight which the trees 
could safely carry. The 
unfertilized row set but 
few apples which were 
comparatively small and 
