The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-07-03


this. and II apples once grew well with
you Is Il not worth while 70 study the
cause OF their failure now?
Men realize that for the growing Of
their annual crops they must cultivate
well and keep up The fertility Of the
soil They do not try to gaqY. corn
and wheat at the same time on tho
same field, for they Know that q can
not be done successfully, but when It
comes 70 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
at the same time and stlll get crops Of
apples. Herein lies the greatest Of oil
the troubles In apple growing. So long
as the soil was a virgin soil and
Astounding In plant food the trees
throve In spite Of neglect but as they
gradually robbed the soil assisted by
the crops planted among them there
was soon a failure, for trees as well as
other crops need plenty Of available
plant food In the soil.
Another thing that apple trees espe-
cially need is an abundance of soil
moisture. 1t is useless to apply fertili-
zers 10 any plant If there is not moist
ure 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
lutlon 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 Agricul-
tural Experiment Station Of Cornell
! University. He showed that with an
average yield land this is a small one
in q 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
phosphoric acid and nineteen pounds
Of potash, and the apples alone would
remove from each acre S2.45 worth Of
plant food. Then the growth of the
wood and the leaves OF the tree must
be JGken into account, and it takes
very considerable, amount Of food to
keep up the activity of a large tree.
Altogether there was in the orchard n
demand for plant food to a total value
Of S9.01 per acre.
lie compared this with a 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 see the same men trying to get
apples from a soil that has been drained
by the trees in this way for a genera
ton, and not only drained by the trees,
but called upon to grow hay crop c.
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
! y
nitrogen and potash, and the trees viii
demand more potash than a crop Of
corn Of fifty bushels per acre, and de-
mand it every year, for there can be
no rotation of crops here. In their
young state, when growth is what we
want, applications of stable manure
will be Of great help, not only in fur
nishing nitrogen but in giving some hui
mus making matter to the soil. II Kai.
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 a mulch for the trees and left on the
ground, cutting it several times during
the season. Then give the grass TOP
dressing annually of q fertilizer com.
posed of 800 pounds of acid phosphate
800 pounds Of cottonseed meal and 40C
) pounds of muriate Of potash to make q
ton. Use this literally and get a good
| growth Of grass and every time you
cut the grass spread it to decay IN
der the trees Us far as the limbs ex
> tend and a little further. Then if you
, attend to the spraying you can grow
apples just like you did in your boy
, hood and probably batter.-W +. Mas
: sey.