The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-09-24
HORTICULTURE
FERT1LIzING FRUIT TRIES.


fruit trees are not producing crop of
fair fruit and do not make fair growth
on the shoots, it shows the soil needs
cultivation or fertilizing, or both.
Tnere is no doubt about it."
OF course there is no doubt about the
statement, for it is fact. The trouble
is that most of our farmers do not pay
as much attention to manuring their
orchards as they do to their plant
crops They are generous to the plants
but stingy to the trees. know farm
ers who spend let US say, fifty dollars
for fertilizers for plant crops, which,
when sold in market bring three hun
dred dollars. Now these anne farmers
will not spend fifty dollars nor fifty
cents for fertilizers for their trees
which yield fruit worth just as much
as their other crops. do not see the
wisdom of such a policy.
My experience in fruit growing tells
me that trees require the application of
fertilizers, just as annual crops do.
This seems easy to understand and
should be apparent to every grower.
And yet any number of orchards in
this neighborhood and throughout the
country are really suffering for the
want OF fertilizer.
Whenever l hear men who have
fruit trees complain of the worn out or
bad condition of their orchards, gen
orally make up mind that the trouble
is not so much with the trees as with
the soil.
So I ask the question: What have
you done to fertilize soil8" In the ma
jority of cases the ans Wer is nothing"
or mot much. /" NJ g times out OF ten
The, Wo;nio q out condition of the
orchard is due to the worn out con
dition of the soil You cannot starve
the soil and then expect g1od crops OF
fruit. When you feed the soil you feed
the trees, and thus obtain a good yield
of fruit. There is no better jnvestman ant
than money expended for improving
the soil in which fruit trees grow
am firm believer in thorough cul-
tivation of orchards, You cannot
make manures do their best unless you
plow and cultivate. When the soil is
kept moist, loose, and free from weeds,
it is in fine condition for the healthy
and vigorous growth Of the trees, and
only from such trees can you get good
fruit. You usually get poor fruit from
weedy orchards. There is another
poiat. Orchards not properly cult
waited are more liable to disease and to
the attacks of insects and pests. By
keeping the soil stirred up, there is less
chance Of diseased roots, and by ap-
plying some such fertilizer as kainit,
grubs and cut worms are destroyed.
II an orchard is in grass, q top dress
Of Oarnyard or stable manure is needed
only in case the growth of wood is
weak and backward The cheapest
and best plan is to NOW the grass down
several times during the season and to
allow it to decay upon the ground.
The most successful fruit growers will
tell you that hay and fruit should not
be grown in the same fl Sid. The land
should be reserved for fruit. There is
no sense in trying to get too much from
an acre of land at the expeEs0 of the
trees.
The iEf fence Of fertilizipg on the
health and fruitfulness Of trees is not
seen in a single season. 1t takes s9v-
eral years before the effects of GER
tain fertilizer on certain soil can be
determined. With cereals and other
annual plants it is different. The use
of a certain kind of fertilizer on an
nuals gives unmistakable results in
one season. It has been proved by
long experience that the liberal use of
potash is essenti Il to successful fruit
growing and as a rule the most sue
ceasful growers are those who take
cognizance Of this fact. In North Caro-
lima and Georgia the great success in
peach growing is due largely to the
knowledge which the growers have of
the needs of their soils. Laet spring l
went through the orchards in the long
leaf pine region of North Carolina The
manurial treatment Of the orchards
found to be as follows: They are kept
cultivated during the summer up to
the latter part of June, when the land
is planted in cow-peas, which are egrown
for the purpose of supplying humus
and nitrogen to the soil. Nitrogen ls
the most expensive Ingredient, but
when supplied to the Ill by means OF
cow-peas, it costs very little. In order
to make the peach trees thrifty and
strong and Iong-lived, heavy applica-