THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
113 
Quiz Column 
THE NURSERY TREE AS A CROP. 
A SYMPOSIUM. 
The questions asked below come from a Kansas correspond¬ 
ent. They arc pertinent it seems to us and worthy of thor¬ 
ough discussions. The editor offers the following answers as 
expressing his view of the matter. The questions were sub¬ 
mitted to several nurserymen and we shall be glad to give our 
readers their views also as space allows. 
1. Will the raising of nursery stock—(apple tree seedlings 
and one and two year grafts)—exhaust the fertility of the 
soil sooner than the raising of ordinary farm crops—(corn, 
wheat, potatoes, etc. 
Ans. From such evidence as experience and the chemist 
have given us, it seems fair to say that the raising of nursery 
stock will not exhaust soil more rapidly than will ordinary farm 
crops. Analyses of soils made by the Cornell Experiment 
Station show that different nursery crops, however, remove 
different amounts of soil fertility. For instance, it appears 
that apple nursery stock removes fertility approximately to 
the amount of six dollars per acre, per year; pears, five dol¬ 
lars; peaches, four and one quarter dollars; plums, three 
dollars and eighty cents. It is also to be noted that more 
phosphoric acid is removed by the growing of apples and 
pears than by peaches and plums. Comparing these amounts 
with a good crop of ensilage corn, the figures are considerably 
in favor of the nursery trees. In other words, corn takes 
more plant food from the soil than the nursery trees. 
2. If not, why do nurserymen refuse to rent the same land 
for that purpose more than two or three years? 
Ans. Because experience has demonstrated that, as a rule, 
second and third crops of nursery trees are not grown 
successfully on the same soil. While this may be a fact, it is 
probably not due to soil exhaustion. 
3. Do you think that land that had been in apple tree 
seedlings and grafts for three years would give as great a 
yield of corn and wheat afterwards as before the trees were 
raised on it? 
Ans. It is likely it would not in the majority of cases, but 
frequently excellent crops are raised and sometimes farmers 
select such land. 
4. Does not a fruit tree take more from the soil than other 
crops? 
Ans. One must discriminate in regard to the age of the 
tree. A fruit tree in bearing takes more from the soil than an 
equal area occupied by wheat. In other words, our investi¬ 
gations have shown that it costs an acre of land more to pro¬ 
duce twenty crops of apples, than it does to produce twenty 
crops of wheat; but the exhaustion comes about more on 
account of the growth of fruit than of leaves and wood. The 
nursery tree is in another class. 
5. Should nurserymen pay more rent for land for nursery 
purposes, than for ordinary farm crops? 
Ans. I think, as a rule, that nurserymen are willing to 
pay a higher rental for land to be occupied by nursery stock 
than others who grow ordinary farm crops. 
6. What should land rent for, for nursery stock that 
brings $5.00 per acre, cash (or $7.00 or more grain rent) for 
ordinary farm crops? Land worth $100.00 per acre. 
Ans. The rental of land should be based upon the farm 
crop-producing ability of that land plus any increase which 
it is customary to charge for the growing of nursery stock. 
A rental of eight to ten per cent, on the value of the land 
ought to be reasonable. 
Remarks. Now we have not yet explained why in the 
face of the fact that nursery-trees do not appear to take 
more plant-food out of the soil, nevertheless the soil may 
appear to be exhausted. When this occurs it would 
seem that it is to be charged to deteriorated physical 
condition. One must remember that the two factors 
bearing upon the fertility of the land are: 1. The plant 
-food content; 2. the physical condition. Probably the 
latter is of the greatest importance. Now, then, why 
do nursery lands need resting or rotating? Because 
the nurseryman is an intensive cultivator. No herbage or 
vegetable matter goes back to the land. He cultivates clean. 
When trees are removed, the major part of the roots are 
taken from the soil. This takes out all the humus-bearing 
portion. Again, the trees may be dug at a time when the 
soil is wet, and if it is of a clayey nature, its physical condi¬ 
tion will be greatly injured. Soil robbed of its humus tends 
to run together and cement if worked when wet. Its tend¬ 
ency is to do this anyhow whether worked oUnot. 
It seems to us that a good deal of this injury might 
be averted if nurseryman grew a secondary crop 
among the trees. This secondary crop should be plowed 
under. We know there are objections to growing buck¬ 
wheat or clover in nursery stock, but we are of the opinion 
that nurserymen will have to come to it sometime. We 
may not reach the limit of available nursery land in our day, 
but it is bound to be reached in the not distant future. If 
the supply of humus is kept up, we see no reason why a sec¬ 
ond and a third crop of nursery trees may not be grown. 
Indeed, they have and are being grown successfully by 
plowing under humus-giving fertilizers, like stable manure. 
There is no good reason why the same could not be effected by 
plowing under green manures. 
Now this is our opinion. We are open to conviction and 
offer the colums of the National Nurseryman to those 
who have opinions and experience to offer. [Ed.] 
EVIDENCE OF NURSERYMEN. 
L. R. TAYLOR SONS, TOPER V, KANSAS. 
Ques. 1. Does the growing of nursery stock exhaust land 
more than the growing of farm crops? 
Ans. We find after growing trees on land for two or three 
years, that the ground is pretty well exhausted for this kind 
of crop, while if put back to corn it will raise a much larger 
crop with less attention than before being planted to trees. 
We have farmers come to us and say that their land is ex¬ 
hausted for corn, and want us to rent it for trees to “Get it in 
shape again.” However, we find it absolutely necessary to 
rotate our crops. 
Ques. 2. Can orchards be grown successfully on ground 
that has produced two consecutive crops of nursery stock? 
