New YorkK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 5ot 
5. Trees transpire relatively large amounts of water and 
therefore relatively diluted solutions of plant-food may suffice 
to furnish food. 
6. All tree fruits have “off years” in which to recuperate. 
7. It is possible to give fruit trees more thorough cultiva- 
tion, thereby better conserving moisture and making food more 
available, than in the case of farm crops. 
It does not follow from what has been said that tree-fruits 
never need fertilizers but these considerations make it plain 
that exceedingly great care must be used in feeding trees if it 
is to be done without waste. The fruit grower ought to experi- 
ment very carefully to see that he gets the worth of his money 
before using any considerable quantities of fertilizers in an 
orchard. 
Lastly, the fruit grower, of all tillers of the soil, should know 
the plants he works with; should have an insight into their life 
processes ; should know how they are affected by external condi- 
tions; should understand the more or less distinct individual- 
ity of each of his trees. Fruit plants are various in kind and 
trees of one kind are often quite unlike because the conditions 
under which they are grown are dissimilar; and because plants 
are inherently variable and plastic. It follows, then, that con- 
ditions must vary for every person who grows fruit and that 
there must therefore be more or less diverse ideals, diverse 
methods and diverse results. But certain forces, embraced in 
what we call “ good care” have brought all fruits from the wild 
to their present state of domestication, and these forces modi- 
fied and refined as we gain new knowledge, must be kept in 
constant operation. 
