Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-07-16
Should Orchards be Fertilizeda

Thorough cultivation, liberal spplica.
ton of plant food, protective spraying
against insect and fungus enemies,
and proper pruning, are among the most
important of the fundamentals commonly
accepted and taught in orchard manage
ment. Among these, none are more
generally believed than the effect of
plant food. heterogeneous manures make
green apples" and potash paints
fruits" are accepted sayings. Many
Maine men believe that by the spplica
ton Of highly heterogeneous fertilizer
similar to the so-called "Fisher For
mula," their comparatively unproductive
orchards have been rendered highly pro-
ductive. The orchards at Highmoor
Farm, after years of neglect, were speed
lily lin three years. time) brought by cul-
tivation, fertilization, spraying and prun-
ing, into healthy fruit. bearing trees.
That the fertilization was as important,
as anything in the treatment, was ac-
cepted at the beginning Of the renovation.
The results of the three years have,
however, made clear that the clean cul-
tivation-growing no crops on the land
other than wood and apples-was far
more important than the application Of
plant food. The New York Station has
published, in Bulletin $50, the results Of
the two sixteen ear 'soil test fertilizer
experiments" with mature trees, and
with a newly set orchard, which show:
That in these orchards and on that soil
the application of the fertilizer had no
appreciable effect, beneficial or other
wise. No more fruit was produced, no
greater wood growth was obtained, no
differences in color or size of fruit or
foliage could be detected where heavy
applications of complete manure or OF
unbalanced manures were made, than
where small applications or no manure
at all were applied"
While this does not mean that these
results are capable of general application,
they are suggestive. And so far as the
best apple soils of New York are con-
cerned, they demonstrate that on those
heavy clay soils carrying large amounts
of the ordinary constituents OF plant
food, the money expended for ferti-
lizers is money absolutely thrown away.
The Maine Agricultural Experiment
Station, in its successful rehabilitation
of the orchards at Highmoor Farm, has
expended approximately $40 a year per
acre for fertilizers. Was that expendi-
ture unnecessary? Can that large ex-
peuse be safely stopped? To answer
these questions, u rows, containing
about 400 trees in the large Ben Davis
orchard, are set aside for an expert
ment to run an indefinite number OF
years. The orchard as a whole has been
given annually 1000 pounds of fertilizer
carrying percent nitrogen, percent OF
available phosphoric acid, and percent
of potash. This application will De con-
tinued on four rows. Other four rows
will receive half that amount annually,
and the other four rows will receive no
fertilizer. Clean cultivation will be
practiced on all. Cover crops, such as
rye, will be grown on all each fall, and
ploughed under each spring. This will,
il is thought, maintain the supply OF
humus. The experiment will be con-
tinued until the unfertilized trees begin
to show the need of plant food, as indi-
Gated by lesser growth of wood or fruit,
or until years enough have passed to
show that the unfertilized are doing as
we'll as the fertilized rows.-Chas. d..
Woods, Director, Orono, Me.