The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-01-27
UNTHRIFTY FRUIT TREES.

Inc owner OF an OrcnarQ In the
southern part of the state writes to
Prof Surface, Economic Zoologist,
of the State Department of Agricul-
ture, stating that his young fruit
trees are unthrifty, and not making
the amount of growth necessary.
Suspecting insect injury, he writes
for information. Prof. Surfaces let
ter to him is given herewith, COM
menting incidentally upon neglected
orchards
The best treatment of your young
orchard is to keep it in absolutely
clean cultivation during the first half
of the growing season, and a cover
crop, such as crimson clover during
the second half and during the win
ter However, if you can not do this
the next best is to mulch it we'll with
barn-yard manure, even if you find
1t best to buy the manure in order to
do this. If this is impossible, a third
resource is, to use commercial fertil-
iZer. | would recommend the use of
complete fertilizer, or one contain
ing some phosphoric acid, potash and
nitrogen. Nitrate of soda alone is
good to push the growth, but does not
give the strength of wood, nor guam
tity and color of fruit, which is to be
obtained from commercial fertilizer.
By this ] mean fertilizer about such
as is to be called a good potato fer
tilizer, using from five to ten pounds
to the tree, according to the size of
each. The nitrate of soda can be
used applying from one to three
pounds to a tree according to size.
1t should be applied in the early
spring as soon as growth is started,
and renew it once in four or six
weeks. One or two applications are
| enough.
"All of your trees should be Sc
verely trimmed back this winter, if
you wish to push their growth. Re-
member that it will invigorate them
to prune them back severely. In ad-
dition to the commercial fertilizer,
: you should by all means, use some
kind of mulch, such as straw or
leaves around them, if you can not
cultivate them; but more earnestly
than this, l would advise you not
to undertake to grow an orchard if
you can not give it cultivation and
proper attention. There are thous-
ands of persons in this country who
think they can plant trees and con-
tinue in some other business, while
the trees are growing into profits.
This will prove a losing enterprise,
as such orchards will not thrive
without proper attention, and in fact,
considerable expense. These orchards
will be for sale in the course of a few
years, and some person will probably
buy them at a price that will be a
sacrifice to the original planter, but
with pruning, spraying, and cultiva-
tion, as well as proper methods of
cover crops with but very little fer
tilizer, indeed, he will build them
up and make good orchards.
81 note that your trees were fif-
teen feet tall when taken up and
transplanted. l doubt if it is possible
to transplant any such trees and
make good trees of them afterward
can assure you that l would rather
have a one-year-old tree transplanted
and cut back to whip, than a tif'
teen foot tree transplanted and cut
|, back to six feet
''If the trees have started now, II
/ is not necessary to feel so discourag'
ed as to think they should be taken
out, but / am satisfied that you
should have something more than 9
| mere scattering of nitrate of soda oi
: other commercial fertilizer arount