The Springdale news. [volume] (Springdale, Ark.) 1887-1990, 1916-03-03
FERTILIZERS AND HORTtCUI
TURE

foods for their crops. This is espe-
cially true of the vegetable growers.
What they wish is rapid growth in
their produce, SO that they will get
the vegetables on the market in the
shortest possible time from the time
of planting. This is the secret OF
success with vegetables, and the only
way TO meet such conditions is TO ap
ply fertilizers in large quantities. In
the next paper we shall tell about the
home garden" and how to fertiltae
it. In the present paper we are TO
tell more particularly about fruit
trees and other horticultural plants.
The relation of apple growing 20
fertilizers has never been very care
fully worked out We know that the
use of fertilizers with fruit trees, and
especially apples, pays, but we have
not yet worked out the best formula
for the various kinds of trees, nor the
says, in his book on Trees and Tree
Planting" that in planting young
trees large quantities of manure
should be used in preparing the place
for planting. These manures should
be rich in plant food elements if the
trees are expected to make rapid
growth. The best way to increase
the plant food in manures is TO add
to the manures the mineral elements
in various forms. and mix with leaf
mold and manures. Brisbin also rec.
ommends that weeds should not be al
lowed to grow around the apple trees.
as they will take up the plant food
which is put down for young trees.
The best method of producing
fruit is to keep the field or orchard
clean by growing other crops which
require constant attention and cult
yation Most farmers and horticul-
turists fertilize the crops that grow
in the orchard, and in this way save
the expense of fertiliZing the fruit
trees again. In many instances le
gumes are grown as cover crop,
and, incidentally, to furnish nitrogen
The orchard cannot be cultivated too
deeply, or injury will result 1t needs
to be cultivated shallow, and manures
or fertilizers applied in reasonable
quantities. While ii is necessary to
put fertilizers near the trunk of the
tree. Yet the roots scatter pretty well
over an orchard, and the plant food
that happens to fall further away
from the trunk is not lost.
A large crop of apples or peaches
takes from the soil much plant food,
such as nitrogen, potash and phos-
phoric acid, and unless this is sup
piled from time TO time, the trees will
prove less fruitful and finally bear
very little fruit, and what they do
bear will be of poor quality. The ar
gument that old trees in pastures
bear good fruit is not sound be-
cause conditions prevail in many $50
lated places this way that cannot be
duplicated in the orchard. Many
times It is the natural leaf mold,
woods earth, Groupings from animals,
and other materials carrying available
plant food that make the fruit on
such trees Besides. such fruit is
rarely ever as excellent and delicious
as that grown in a well-kept orchard.
Fruit, like all other kinds Of field and
garden crops, must be forced more
or less 10 measure up to high stan
dard. To force the fruit, and at the
same time keep the land fertile, we
must apply to the soil as much fertll
izer as the crop takes from it.
Fruit trees demand in their growth
fertilizer rather rich in potash and
phosphoric acid, but not very rich in
nitrogen 1t was found that the citrus
trees in California at the Riverside
Experiment Station grew better fruit
and did better every way with com
plete fertilizer than with any single
plant food element, or any incomplete
combination 1t was also found that
the acid requirements of these trees
were more completely supplied with
sulphate of ammonia than from any
other nitrogen source.
Many of the experiment stations
have secured good results from fertil-
izing orchards, but none quite so good
J as the ONO SidttOil IL l1dttO01 III
charge of work with apples. says:
ITO sum up the results in increased
fruit production from the use of
chemical fertilizers on the very thin
/ orchard land in southeastern Ohio,
/ taking into consideration all our diff
/ ferent plots at the various places COW
erirg SO miles of country, We have
the following:
Average per acre, per year fertil-
lied. 100 barrels.
Average per acre, per year unfertil-
lied, "A barrels.
Gain per acre, per year. from fertil-
ization, IS barrels
Cost of gain per barrel, per year
IT'S cents.
This is the strongest endorsement
for the use of commercial fertilizers
In orchards that We have yet seen
and shows how it is possible tor in