The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1876-01-28
AGRICULTURAL.

MANUR1Na FRUIT TREES IN WINTER.
Probably no one who has ever made
fruit trees and their manner of growth
and development a special study
has any doubt that they need~manure
just as truly as potatoes, corn, or any
crop which the farmer grows.
But a great many farmers, with whom
fruit growing is incidental, seem to
think that nature will provide as
amply for fruit as for forest tree.
And SO they neglect to manure their
orchards, and when they have few
years experience, these men are
fully convinced that, whatever may be
the case in other localities, it does not
pay to grow fruit in their section of
the country. Nature is very indul-
gent, but she cannot do everything,
and to ask her to provide for the
growth Of the tree and also make it
fruitful is requiring altogether too
much. With the single exception of
the cherry, probably, all of our COM
mon fruit trees need a rich soil and a
frequent and liberal application Of
manure. When should manure be
applied? Some say in the spring,
others in the fall, while a great many
men attend to this work when it is most
convenient. 1t may not be of so much
consequence at the South, but in
Northern States nature seems TO point
to the cold season as the best time
1t is very desirable that all the wood
formed during the summer should be
thoroughly ripened. Otherwise it
will be killed by the frost, and the
tree will thus be injured. II manure
is applied late in the spring, in the
summer or early fall it stimulates a
late growth, sometimes keeping it up
until cold weather sets in, and the
young wood is immature and in no
condition to endure the frosts Of win
ter. Apple and pear trees which are
in full bearing may be profitably ma
nured every year. Well rotted stable
manure, or rich compost, is first rate.
II ploughed in, should not run the
plough deeper than five inches. When
the trees are scattering, and the whole
field in which they stand is not to be
manured, it pays to spread more than
the top, and the manure should cover
a larger surface on the ground than
the branches shade.
Farmers whose trees were not ma
nured last fall can pro1itably attend to
this work during the winter, unless
their orchards are located on steep
hiilsides, in which case it had better
be delayed until the snow is gone, lest
the spring thawS and rains should wash
the manure away. When the snow is
not too deep, the manure can be
drawn out upon sled and spread un-
der the trees. 1t is better to do this
work in winter than it is to wait until
spring, because when the frost comes
out the ground will be soft, the wheels
will cut it up badly, and the loads
will draw very hard. If the work is
put off until the ground is settled it
gets to be late in the season for the ap-
plication of the fertilizer The ma
nure ought to be on the land soon
enough, so that when the frost comes
out, and the soil is loose and open, the
manure, which has been pulverized
by the action of the cold, may be dis
solved by the spring rains and washed
down to the roots of the trees. This
will cause an early and vigorous
growth, and in most cases will secure
the perfect ripening of the wood.
Stock Journal