The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-04-14
FERTILIZER FOR FRUIT.
BY GERALD MCCARTHY, N. G. EXPERIMENT
STATION

| Is Cn0 DeSU IerGnlZ0f 1Of Gn0 grape! AS
well might one ask What is the best
medicine for man? 1t all depends
upon the circumstances of the case.
Like all our best fruits the grape is
greatly benefited by potash and in a
scarcely less degree by phosphoric
acid On poor soils nitrates in small
! doses will prove advantageous, but too
much nitrates are apt to produce an
excessive growth of soft wood at the
expense of quality Of the fruit and
renders the vines more liable to frost
| bite and rot.
For most vineyards in red clay soil
fertilizer composed of fine ground raw
bone meal and muriate of potash in
about equal parts may be used to good
| advantage and from 200 lbs to 1900
lbs. per acre of the mixture may be
applied. Sow the fertilizer broadcast
in the spring, and after the crop has
been gathered, or about August 18th,
plant the space between the rows In
crimson clover, TrJOLiun1 i1ocGT7lGt1tno.
This clover will quickly take posses
sion of the ground and keep down
weeds and weedy grasses. 1t will alb
sOrb and utilize the fertilizer left by
the vines, and by drawing off some of
this fertilizer will cause the canes to
ripen their wood early and thus escape
early frosts. Besides these services
the clover will draw free nitrogen
from the air and from it produce nj
trates for enriching the soil. Usually
a good cutting of clover can also be
had by November 1st, and it is advised
that this be taken off for feed. The
clover will sprout again from the butts
and will continue to grow through the
winter, furnishing heavy growth to
be plowed under in spring. This green
manure will supply all the nitrates the
vines need Only phOsphates and pot
ash need be supplied in commercial fer
tilizer The more of these we give the
soil the heavier will our vines yield
and the heavier will be the crop of
clover we may cut in the fall and the
crop we plow under in the spring
| Usually the fall cutting of clover will
pay for the phosphates and potash put
on the land. We may thus enrich our
vineyards at practically no expense.
Where the vineyard is worked with
foresight, energy and skill, both in pro
ducing and marketing the crops, the
greater the quantity of fertilizer given,
up to 1000 lbs. per acre, the greater
will be the profit. Butt get any profit
from fertilizers we must protect our
vines from fungOus diseases and nOx-
iOus insects. The spraying pump has
now become as much a necessity in
the vineyard and orchard as is the
plOw and pruning knife The subject
| of spraying can not be dealt with in
this paper. The N. @. Experiment
Station has now ready and will soon
publish Bulletin on this subject which
will be illustrated by cuts of apparatus
and diseased vines and trees. This
Bulletin will be sent free to all names
on the Station mailing list and to
others upon application.
An attempt has recently been made
in France, under the auspices of the
French Government, to discover by a
practical field test under what forms
different fertilizers act most effectually
upon the growth of the vine. This ex-
pertinent was undertaken by the emf
nent viticulturist, Prof M. U. Gayon,
and the results, though incomplete,
are of great interest and value to vine
dressers everywhere. Subjoined is
given a translation and synopsis of
Prof. GayOn's report which appears in
the A9un0Ies de LU Science eAgrOnOnpjQtte
for 1890. While it must be remem-
bered that the facts and figures given
are fully applicable only to the par
ticular field and species of grape ex-
perimented with, yet as the compost
tion and fertilizer requirements of the
vine are much the same everywhere,
this experiment contains lesson for
American as we'll as for French grape
growers.
In order to escape the perturbatiOns
which would have been caused by the
PhyIIorera and the remedies employed
against this pest Prof. GoyOn located
his experimental vineyard in the midst
of the LZU11deS or sand barrens to the
Southwest of Bordeaux. The soil of
the LEGndes is a nearly pure, white
sand, porous at the surface but having
at depth of from IS to "a inches a
| water tight and rock-like bed of quartz