Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-03-11

kept cultivated, In the flrst half Of th,
growing season, has had Q cover cro]
which has been plowed In to maintaii
the organic matter in the soil, no appre
ciable ipcreases have been obtained II
yield or In tree growth by the applies
tion OF fertilizer. 1t never would hav,
been possible In any year for one walk
Ing through the orchurd to have picked
out the fertilized from the unfertilizei
trees. either by the looks Of the foliage
the fruit, or the general appearance oi
the trees. .--
In other experiments In the Bald wiz
orchard, part Of the orchard received Q
highly nitrogeHeus FERTILIZER No differ
enoes In yield or In tree growth could be
i detected.
The two conflicting series Of expert
ments discussed: rgr sf.g..
And yet despite the fact that these ex-
periments at Highmoor Farm as we'll as
those at Geneva, New York, failed to
show any benefit either In the yield of
fruit or in the growth of the trees by the
application of fertilizer, 1t is matter of
common experience that some orchards
on some soils do respond to the applioa-
tion of fertilizer and that heterogeneous
manures, particularly in the form Of barn
manure, may be 80 abundantly supplied
that the trees make altogether too much
wood growth. Why In the series at Mr..
Pope's and in Pennsylvania have the fer
tilizers given returns and why have they
not given returns at Highmoor and at
Geneva, New York. In the speakers
opinion, this difference Is due entirely to
the starting point. In the experiments
at Mr.. Pope's and In Pennsylvania, the
orchards selected for the experiment
were not on land that was 10 good heart.
On such land the apple trees responded
to the fertilizer. In the experiment at
Highmoor Farm and at Geneva, land that
was in excellent heart on which trees
were already growing vigorously was Sc
lected for the experiment where no crops
were grown and nothing was removed
from the land, and nothing was allowed
to grow except apples and apple trees.
Apparently under such conditions, apple
trees can 90 for long time If not indefi.
nitely without the application Of fertil
izsr. But where the soil is not in good
heart, and where other crops are being
grown, the application Of fertilizer Is nec-
essary. The trees respond most readily
and surely to the applications Of nitro
gen. Farm manure is par excellence the
fertilizer to use for Il supplies the needed
ammonia (nitrogep) 10 abundance and
some phosphoric acid and potash.
II commercial fertilizer 10 to be used
any good high grade mixture such as one
would use for corn or potatoes is all
right. After the experiment at Mr.. Pope's
orchard, Professor Munson recommended
a 81 mixture.
Manure either farm or commercial can
be used to advantage upon the soil whore
trees are not making suitable growth
and producing proper returns iu fruit
yield. In our experience breaking up the
soil by rather shallow plowing, keeping
the land we'll cultivated during the grow
ing part of the season, growing cover
crops In the later summer and fall, plow-
ing them under In the spring, aud keep
ing up this practice until the soil is In
good state Of fertility Is an important
part II one is to get the best and most
profitable returns from applied fertilizer.
II mulobing 10 employed, and there is
much to be said in favor of mulching, It
must be liberal 90 as to prevent all weed |
growth and cover all of the land beneath |
the trees.
After any suitable orchard soil is
brought into good heart, and II clean cul- |
ture or heavy mulching be practiced, II |
is probable that the same results would |
be obtained as were fonnd at Highmoor |
and at Geneva and that further applica- |
ton of fertilizer would not be q f1nsn-
cial profit.