The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-05-28
Tho Ample Orchard.

There is nothing more common than
to hear farmers in all the eastern sec
ton Of tho country say 'we cannot
grow apples any more as we once d!d.'
Now, the climate Is not to blame for
this, and If apples once grew we'll 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 Go not try to grow corn
and wheat at the same time on the
same field, for they know that It can
not be done successfully, but when it
comes to the orchard they assume that
a tree can not only take care Of itself
like the trees in the forest. but that
they can crop the land for other things
1t the same time and still get crops OF
apples. Herein lies the greatest OF all
the troubles in apple growing. So long
as the soil was virgin soil and
abounding In plant food the trees
throve in spite Of neglect. but as they
gradually robbed the soil assisted hr
the crops planted among them there
was soon a failure, for trees as vel! as
other crops psed plenty Of available
plant food in the soil.
Another thing that apple trees cspe-
cially need is al abundance OF SOIL
moisture It IS useless to apply fertili-
zers to any plant If there is not moist
ure enough in the soil to dissolve them.
Hence the Importance for providing a
soil abounding 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 on
apple orchard takes from the soil. At
the recent American Apple Growers
Congress in st. Louis Professor Clo-
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 (and this Is 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, Ind the apples alone would
remove from each acre $2.45 worth OF
plant food. Then tie growth of the
wood and the leaves Of the tree must
be taken into account, and It takes
very considerable. amount Of food to
keep up the activity Of 4 large tree.
Altogether there was in the orchard a
demand FOR plant food to q total value
Of S901 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, md yet every
farmer knows that he cannot expect
fifty bushels of corn Per acre unless he
keeps up the fertility of the soil. ard
yet we see the same men trying to get
apples from soil that has been drained
by the trees in this way for genera
tion, and not only drained by the trees,
but called upon to grow hay crop CT
to pasture stock. Is it any woDder that
we cannot grow apples as we'll as we
once did?
The statement We have given shows
that the demand for phosphoric acid Is
very small as compared with that for
nitrogen and potash, and the trees Will
demand more potash than a 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, when growth IS what we
want, applications Of stable manure
will be Of great help, not only in fur
nishlng nitrogen but in giving some hll-
mus making matter to the soil. If Aal-
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 q mulch for the trees and left on the
ground, cutting it several times during
the season. Then give the grass Top
dressing annually Of a fertilizer COM
posed of 800 pounds of acid phosphate,
300 pounds Of cottonseed meal and 400
pounds Of muriate Of potash to make a
ton. Use this literally and get good
growth of grass and every time you
cut the grass spread it to decay un-
der the trees rs 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 bettcr.-W. +. Mas
sqy