The November Number of 
The Nusttalian Gatdener 
CONTAINS— 
Flower Garden— Lucerne. Eggs ~ 0 sp 13 
October Planting i 3 Lucerne for Hillside} ... fs 7 -— 
The Shadehouse - any igh pag The Dairy. Wine as a Germ-Destroyer o. (12 
The Greenhouse 4 Testing Cows as;Milkers ee 8 Olivr Oil ae a7 ap Wl 
Flowers op os 13 Profitable Pig Keeping ap Orchard Notes at ap 1bY 
Vegetable Garden. Sheepbreeding ~ ws ee aD Vegetarian Diet sees 2 
October Plaating Fy 4-5 Poultry. Government-Produce Department 12 
_. Orchard. Ducks Bere) an eo LL Washing Milk Vessels, etc. wn 1D 
List of Good Apple Trees ie Advice about Poltry ... x UL “ een F 
Peaches see oye an I Feeding Fowls re an As bir 
Experiments in Orchard been jobtained and the author believes Suggestions upon the care of 
Culture. 
By W. H. Munson, Marne, 
Considerable weakness has been de 
veloped in the seedling stocks used, which 
illustrates the advantage of using some 
well-known hardy vigorous sort us the 
foundation of the orchard, rather than 
miscellaneous seedlings. The main pur- 
pose of the experiments is to determine 
the relative value of cultivation and 
mulching for orchards with or without 
fertilizers. Generally speaking, the culti- 
vated trees have made a much larger 
growth than the cultivated, and those 
fertilized more than the unfertilized. 
Gravestein mulched and fertilized made 
slightly larger growth than when culti- 
vated and fertilized. 
The average yields have been slightly 
in fayor of cultivation. This was par- 
ticularly striking in 1905, when an average 
of 4 bu. per tree was obtained on the cul- 
tiyated area as compared with 2.8 bu, per 
tree where mulching was used. The yield 
on the portions fertilized with stable 
manure has been slightly heavier than 
where commercial fertilizers have been 
applied. In ‘experiments to determine 
the specific effect of different potash salts 
on the apple, no noticeable difference has 
yet developed in the character of fruit or 
the behaviour of trees as a result of the 
form of potash used. 
In 1902, 100 trees in a neglected orchard 
were set aside for the purpose of deter- 
mining the best methods of renovation. 
Pruning, cultivating, and fertilizing have 
been practiced, and the results on all 
the plants aro very satisfactory. The best 
results have been obtained where a com- 
plete fertilizer was used, One tree which 
received an excess of nitrogen there was 
a noticeable lack of color in the fruit, and 
1904 a considerable injury occured to both 
fruit and trees as a result of either a too 
free use of nitrogen or the absence of 
potash. Both fruit and foliage dropped 
and much of the fruit was cracked, while 
the remainder was as soft and mellow in 
_ October as it should have been the fol- 
lowing May. Good yields of fruit have 
that the experiment demonstrates that 
the off year in the case of Baldwins is an 
unnecessary condition which ought not to 
exist in a well-managed orchard. 
Specific test is being made of the rela- 
tive values of the Fisher fertilizer formula 
for fruits and the station formula. The 
Fisher formula calls for a mixture of 350 
lbs. nitrate of soda, 120 lbs. sulphate 
of ammonia, 230 lbs. sulphate of potash, 
200 lbs. acid phosphate, and 50 Ibs. 
kieserite. These are thoroughly mixed 
and sown on the surface of the ground 
under the tree a little further out than 
the limbs extend, at the rate of 10 lbs. to 
a medium tree, from May 1 to 10, or as 
soon as the blossom buds begin to open. 
the station formula contains about 5 per 
cent. less nitrogen, 2 peroent. more phos- 
phoric acid, and 4 per cent. less potash 
and costs about 6 dol, less per ton. Good 
results haye thus far been secured with 
both formulas but no conclusions have 
been drawn as yet. 
In the top-working of orchards a 
specific test is being made of the relative 
yalue of scions from bearing trees of 
known yalue, as compared with scions 
from nursery trees or miscellaneous 
sources. This work has been underway 
two years. Some experiments have also 
been made to determine the effects of 
cultivation on the keeping quality of 
fruit as compared with sod-grown frult. 
The results obtained thus far are contra- 
dictory. 
In cover-crop work at the station, winter 
rey has proved most satisfactory on strong 
land. Where the soil is in need of nitro- 
gen winter vetch (Vicia villosa) or spring 
vetch (V. sativa), has proved most satis- 
factory. 
In order to emphasize the importance 
of rational orchard treatment in other 
sections of the State, some co-operative 
experiments haye been planned with 
growers in the vicinity of New Gloucester, 
This work is briefly outlined. The bul- 
1 tin contains numerous diagrams showing 
the arrangement of the various experi- 
mental orchards, and tables giving in 
detail the data secured as to the annual 
growths of trees on mulched and culti- 
vated areas, and the yields obtained. 
Apple Orchards. 
By E. Waker, Arkansas. 
Suggestions based on the results of ex- 
perimental work are given for the care. 
and management of apple orchards, in- 
cluding pruning, spraying, fertilizing, 
cultivation, cover crops, resetting gaps in 
~ old orchards, etc. 
In rejuvenating an orchard of 27 acres 
of old bearing trees, good cultivation, 
pruning, spraying, and the use of both 
stable manure and commercial fertilizers 
was given. The work was begun in 1904, 
and in 1905 534 bbls of No. a apples were 
secured, having a value of 2,077.57 dols. 
and 240 worth of No. culls and vinegar 
apples total value, 2,317.50, while the 
expenses of production was 883.30. An 
uncultivated orchard of 30 acres in the 
same locality yielded, in comparison, but 
70 bbls. of poor No 2 apples. The result 
of analyses of the soil and subsoil in the 
orchard rejuvenated are given. Thy 
show considerably less than half of the 
humus normally present in average s>uth- 
ern soils. In newer ground the humus 
was greatest in the surface soil, but in 
the older land it was greatest in the subsoil 
Attention is called to the injury to 
the apples by the green narrow-wingel 
katydid (Scudderia texensis). This insect 
injured from 3 to 5 per cent. of the fruit 
on many trees. The injury consisted 
principally in the disfiguring of the fruit. 
The proportion of sound apples on the 
area first sprayed in going into the orchard 
was 932 per cent.; in other parts of the 
orchard the percentage was 84 to 89 per 
cent., thus showing that the best work in 
spraying was done when the men were 
fresh. The cost of spraying 3} cts. per 
. tree. 
Some of the trees were dust sprayed, 
but the foliage and fruit of these trees 
were not so perfect as in the liquid. It 
gave better results against codling moth 
than against scab and was very efficient 
against caterpillars. The notion commonly 
prevalent among orchardists in Arkansas 
that pruning must not be practiced was 
found to be erroneous when conducted in 
a careful and intelligent manner. 
