Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-21
SPRAYING AND FERTILIZING
WORK IN THE ORCHARD

hand outfits are inefficient unless
strong and willing man be at the
pump handle. Power outfits, as a
rule, do much better work, and will
soon pay for themselves, even in COM
paratively small orchards.
Fertilizers Needed.
If the trees of the orchard have
been making short puny wood growth
and the foliage has shown a pale.
yellowish hue, 1t Is good evidences
that there Is a deficiency of nitro
genous plant food If the orchard
be in sod and fairly level, 1t may be
we'll to pillow 1t, harrow a few times
during the spring to keep down weeds
and SOW to cowpeas or soybeaus In
June-one-half bushel to three peckH
per acre. These may be disked down
in autumn and the area sown to rye
for winter soil covering. The rye
should be turned under the following
spring before it has headed out, cui-
tivation resumed with the harrow
and the summer covering crop again
sown in June.
Flowing an orchard that has for
some years been In sod will produce o
result similar to that of applying q
quickly availale heterogeneous fertil~
izer. Stable manure may be usSsszSoA.
advantage on orchards cultivated or
uncultivated. Cultivation without the
addition of vegetable matter of some
kind to provide humus shouldJ not be
undertaken. If the ground should be
even slightly sloping serious washing
of the soil would result. Even on
level land long-continuedi blowing
and cultivation without addition OF
vegetable matter will result in life
less and unproductive soil.
1t is by no means necessary to pillow
the orchard, as good yields of more
highly colored fruit may be obtained
from apple trees under the grass
mulch method of culture. Stimulate
generous growth of grass and the
trees at the same time by applying
top-dressing of commercial fertil-
ity. Try a mixture of 400 pounds
nitrate of soda, 400 pounds acid phos-
phate and 200 pounds muriate of pot
ash per acre, applied over the whole
surface of the ground. Do not be
tempted to make hay of the increased
growth of vegetation obtained from
such an application, but NOW the
grass and let 1t lie where II falls, to
go back to the soil as vegetable mat
ter or humus after II has served it's
purpose of soil covering or mulch
TO conserve nOlsLuTe. OuCti du dp-
plication of commercial fertilizer
should be made about the time the
trees are in bloom.
Stable manure used as surface
dressing on a grass-mulch orchard Is
always good, but results from chem
ical fertilization In which nitrate OF
soda has it's part will be much more
prompt, so far as condition of the
trees and increased fruit production
are concerned, than from stable ma
nure. II has been found In experi-
mental work that nitrate of soda will
perform In one year, In orchards or
grass, what It requires three or four
years for stable manure to perform
II is to be recommended, however,
that dependence be not placed in ni-
trate of soda alone, nor in completes
| chemical fertilization alone, but In
the combination of chemical fertiiisa-
ton and the greatly increased cover
| crop of vegetation thus produced
which must be permitted to remain
upon the ground In the form OF =
| heavy soil covering.