Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-06-11
The Apple Orchard.

There is nothing more common than
10 hear farmers in all the eastern Sec
ton of the country say 1--WE cannot
grow apples any more as we once did"
Now, the climate Is not to blame for
this. and If apples once grew well with
you Is 1t not worth while to study the
cause of their failure now?
Men realize that for the growing Of
their annual crops they must cultivate
we'll and keep up the fertility OF the
soil. They do not try to grow corn
and wheat at the same time on the
same field, for they know that y can
not be done successfully, but when 1t
comes to the orchard they assume that
tree can not only take care of itself
like the trees in the forest. but that
they can crop the land for other things
Mt the same time and still get crops OF
apples Herein lies the greatest Of oil
the troubles in apple growing. So long
as the soil was virgin soil and
Astounding In plant food the trees
throye in spite of neglect, but as they
gradually robbed the soil assisted by
the crops planted among them there
was soon failure, for trees as we'll as
other crops need plenty of available
plant food in the soil.
Another thing that apple trees espc.
cinlly need Is an abundance or SOIL
moisture 1t Is useless to apply fertili-
zers to any plant If there is not moist
urc enough in the soil to dissolve them,
Hence the Importance for providing a
soil Astounding in vegetable decay to
retain the moisture needed for the so
luton Of the plant food applied. Few
growers fully realize the amount Of
the various forms Of plant food that an
apple orchard takes from the soil. At
the recent American Apple Growers
Congress in st. Louis Professor Clio.
thier gave some very striking figures
In this regard which were taken from
the experiments made at the Agrlcul'
turul Experiment Station Of Cornell
University. He showed that with an
average yield (and this Is a small one
in good orchard( of 200 bushels per
acre. that this 200 bushels OF fruit
would remove from the soil thirteen
pounds Of nitrogen, only one pound Of
phosphorc acid and nineteen pounds
of potash, md the apples alone would
remove from each acre S2.45 worth or
plant food. Then the growth Of the
wood and the leaves of the tree must
be taken into account. and it takes a
very conslderabl, amount OF food to
keep up the activity Of large tree
Altogether there was in the orchard n
demand for plant food to total value
of $0.01 per acre.
He compared this with crop of corn
making fifty bushels per acre, and
showed that the corn removed little
more than the fruit trees, end yet every
farmer knows that he cannot expect
fifty bushels Of corn per acre unless he
keeps up the fertility Of the soil. and
yet we sec the same men trying to get
apples from soil that has been drained
by the trees in this way for genera
ton, and not only drained by the trees.
but called upon to grow hay crop CT
to pasture stock. Is it any wonder that
we cannot grow apples as well as we
once did?
The statement We have given shows
that the demand for phosphoric acid is
very small rs compared with that for
nitrogen and potash, and the trees will
demand more potash than Il crop Of
corn Of fifty bushels per acre, and de-
mand 1t every year for there can be
no rotation of crops here. In their
young state. whom growth is what we
want applications of stable manure
will he of great help, not only in fur
nishlng nitrogen but in giving some hu.
mus making matter to the soil If Kali
nit has been used in the preservation Of
this manure it will not only make the
manure better in preventing the loss
of nitrogen, but it will add potash that
Is needed. When the trees have
reached maturity We advise the seed.
ing down to grass. But not in grass to
be cut for hay, but grass to be cut only
as Il mulch for the trees and left on the
ground, cutting 1t several times during
the season. Then give the grass a top
dressing annually Of a fertilizer COM
posed Of 500 pounds of acid phosphate,
500 pounds Of cottonsecd meal and 400
pounds of murlate of potash to make Il
ton. Use this literally ana get good
growth of grass and every time you
cut the grass spread it TO decay un-
der the trees as far as the limbs eX-
tend and little further. Then if you
attend to the spraying You can grow
apples just like you did in your boy
hood and probably bctter-W. +. Mas.
sey.