Ellsworth American., 1874-07-09
How to Treat Hruit -frees.

In considering the growth Of organisms.
the action Of the alkalies IA to be looked
upon as scarcely less important than that
OF air and water. Lime is the great anil
NAL alkali, and potash the vegetable one;
Its old name Of vegetable alkali axpresssd
that fact, aud all the potash Of commerce
Is well known to be derived from wood
ashes. The Importance OF potash - .
manure has been frequently overlook ed
By fArners. who rarely know the large
amount Of this material found In grass,
grain crops; leaves, barn-yard manure,
roots and fruits. How posaah acts In
plants, In conjunction with carbon and
silex, to form woody Hbre. starch, sugar
and oil. is yet unknown to chemical obser-
vers, but the fact Of its action is beyond
doubt. Liebig long siuce pointed out that
the chief cause Of barrenness Is the waste
OF potash carried OF BY rich crops. es-
peciaily tobacco, with no replacement BY
proper manure. How many millions OF
pounds OF potash have been sent to Europe
from the forests Of America, and in the
grain. tobacco and hemp. Luckily Que
siksii may be replaced BY another. and We
have received . considerable quantity OF
soda ffo0 European sea-wsed and In the
shape OF salt. Latteriy, nitrate Of soda
from natural deposits in South America is
brought to us u . cheap price.
The point TO which we row call atten-
ton Is that our farmers and fruit-growers
have ignored. or rather been ignorant OF.
the importance Of wood ashes Is . vege-
table stimulsnt and ~ the leading con-
stituents OF plants. Even coal ashes. now
thrown away Is useless, have been shown,
both BY experiment and analysis. to pos
sess = fair share Of alkaline value. Ac-
cording to our observation, IL the practice
Of putting . mixture Of wood and coal
ashes around the stems Of fruit-trees and
vines. particularly early In the spring,
were followed IS general rule, our crops
Of apples, grapes, peaches, eta. would be
greatly benefited in both quality and
quantity, and the trees and vines would
last longer. We will relate only one ex-
pertinent. Some twenty-five years ago,
We treated an old hollow pippin apple
tree - follows: The hollow. to the height
Of eight feet, was filled and Tammed with
. compost OF wood and ashes, garden
mold, and little waste lime Carbonate. }
This filling was securely fastened in by
boards. The next year the crop OF sound
fruit was sixteen bushels from an old shell
of tree that had borne nothing Of any ac-
count for some time. But the strangest
part was what followed. For seventeen
years after the filling. that old pppin tree
continued TO flourish and bear well.
Let Us call attention to still another point
Of importance In fruit-raising. This is the
bearng year for apples and fruit in Reaer-
al in New England; probably it Is also In
some other parts. Now when such year,
come. the farmers rejoice too mach NJ
their prosperity and abuse 1t, as nearly all
people do the Eifts Of fortune. We should
be temperate As to the quantity Of our fruit
as well rs Of our fruit juices. By proper
trimming and pluckiug, the apple crop in
bearing years may be reduced to but little
more than half . crop As to number, but
the improvement In sire and price. and In
the future effect, will more than balance
the loss. NeH February, March or April,
according to latitude, let the tree-srimner
stimulate and nourish his trees and vines
with . fair supply Of ashes, and In nearly
every case he will have . good crop OF
fruit In the non-beAring year.-[Scien,iiic
Ana