RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1153 
Notes on Fertilizing Orchards 
* The farm papers have lately been full 
of discussion of the use of barnyard ma¬ 
nure and fertilizers in the orchard. We 
have made a number of tests in our or¬ 
chards, and have come to the conclusion 
ll,et nitrogen is the only element that 
gives any results on our soils, and that 
n.c.’.’...’- is more valuable for its lmmus 
content than for its fertilizing value. 
When our trees begin to show early ma¬ 
turity. small size and high color in the 
fruit, coupled with small growth of twigs, 
we think it is time to put some manure 
ou that pari of the orchard. Some of our 
neighbors believe that the use of nitrate 
on the orchards favors setting of a crop. 
We have not used this fertilizer on our 
bearing trees to any extent as yet, but it 
is sure that the use of about luO lbs. of 
nitrate to the acre made some Bartlett 
nears ripen much later. There are a few 
young pear trees on a sandy orchard 
where we always expect tin 1 fruit to ripen 
a few days earlier than on the heavier 
soils. Last year we picked these trees 
later because they had only a few pears 
on them. The pears were not nearly 
ripe, and would probably have hung on 
about a week longer before coloring up. 
A few trees of Clapp’s Favorite in the 
same block showed very good color when 
they finally ripened. 
Many writers feel that they should have 
a chemical examination of their soil to 
find what fertilizing elements are needed, 
and the soil chemists say that they cannot 
tell it from such an examination. It 
seems possible that a chemical test, of the 
soil water might, give better results. All 
the mineral food of the plants is taken 
from or with the soil water, and must 
be in very dilute solution. We know very 
little of the chemical changes that go on 
in the soil. Substances which the chem¬ 
ist can hardly break up in the laboratory 
seem to change readily under the influence 
of sunlight and moist air. Chemists tell 
us that the sulphur left on the leaves from 
our spraying is changed to sulphuric acid 
by the action of sunlight and dew. but in 
the laboratory it is very hard to make sul¬ 
phuric acid, and it apparently cannot be 
done directly from the raw sulphur. The 
same agents are able to unlock the phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash from the soil 
grains, and make them into forms that 
the plants can use. Frequent cultivation 
to loosen up the soil and let the air down 
into it helps in this. It. may be that the 
soil chemists will find that this is one of 
the great advantages of frequent cultiva¬ 
tion of the orchards. They tell us now 
that clean cultivation gives greater re¬ 
sults than cau be accounted for by the 
saving of moisture. 
The question of why W'estern New York 
experiments show results from the use of 
fertilizers, while those of other States 
do not. is a hard one. We cannot pass 
it off as accidental, due to carelessness 
or any such explanation. The experi¬ 
ments were carefully controlled in each 
case, and were made by careful men. The 
only possible differences are in kind of 
soil and in amount and distribution of 
rainfall. Western New York soils are of 
many kinds, varying from heavy clay to 
a very light sand. A recent writer has in¬ 
vestigated the. distribution of rainfall 
rlirough the growing season, and has 
found that most of the United States is 
in the region where the rainfall is greater 
in the Spring and early Summer than it 
is in the Fall and late Summer. A part 
of the Atlantic Coast States and some 
other sections are in the region of late 
Summer and Autumn rains. A curious 
thing, not mentioned by the writer, is that 
the apple-growing sections of the country 
are where the dividing line is: that is. the 
region of equal distribution of rain 
through the year, crosses a body of water 
or a mountain range. It is to be hoped 
that we may have more experiments and 
a better recording of facts to toll us about 
this. There seems to be a relation be¬ 
en the distribution of the rainfall 
through the warm season and the charac¬ 
ter of the soil. Where the rainfall is 
mostly in the later part of the warm sea- 
>ou. the soils are poorer than where the 
rains come before the first of April. 
Fhe cover-crop question is a very im¬ 
portant one for the orchardist. We for¬ 
merly depended mainly on Crimson clover. 
1 his makes a good growth in the late 
Summer., and generally makes some 
growth in the Spring. It winter-kills 
rather "badly if the deep snow covers it. 
and does not start very early in the 
Spring. Mammoth Red clover makes lit¬ 
tle growth in tin 1 Summer, and does not 
start early. Where it can be left until 
well into. June it. makes a large amount 
material to turn under, but this can¬ 
not be safely done in the orchard. Buck¬ 
wheat makes a good cover crop, so far as 
••becking the growth in Summer is con¬ 
cerned. but it does not live over Winter. 
i " K . y ei, f for grain it leaves very stiff 
stubbles, which do great damage t*» the 
apples that go on the ground. A few 
'■••ars ago we tried rye and vetch in .one 
" our orchards, and now raise a little 
>ach year to put in for cover crops. It 
makes the best cover crop we have found. 
f:L“ a - ke S !l large growth the first season. 
•til 
' ve P over Winter, and starts growtt 
^ (|U 'ckly m the Spring. There i.s a 
* . amount, to turn under if we start 
; ivation early, and much more if we 
cai wait until May to do the plowing. 
'.in l 1 °'y. ln Jt for beans we often have 
above the plow handles. a. c. w 
" ayne Co.. N. Y. 
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