Apple Culture.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 June 1910, Page 4

Apple Culture.

Successful apple culture onn only ()■!.• tain \\ here suiiii; trouble is ex- < rcised by 11!t< grower. The napi'l:ir idea that apples will /row well ;!nyw 1:: rt' and under any conditions is always falsified l»y. < >;p VTi'iiee and win) have started apple culture under .swell an illusion have s.:en found out their mistake. ..nine '_ci oAvers do met applt-s to and r r> I'rn't witout expending nmch Labour 011 their orchards, says an exchange, hut are only partially successful in comri-nn wit.h those who cultivate thoroughly. The truth of this lias been forcibly ini-pre-sed on us (luring this week in .seeing i.-wo orchaids ad.jnininii;. In one. weeds and undergrowth were abundant everywhere., and although t.iie trees had borne mood crops, yet they slrowed siirns of weakness and In the next field, whicli is regularly cultivated, and which basal ready hcen turned over so that the frost and air may pulverise the ground, the trees were mncriiificent pictures of health: not only were they comparatively I'ree from blight, but were also full of life and covered with fruiit spurs for 'next season's crop.

Not only will such cultivation \v\vo a splendid effect on the continiied health of the trees, it will also insure in no small measure a reduction of the codlin moth, which very often makes use of the grass ■niui rubbish around the trees a depository for moth's chrysalis during tho autumn and winter months. In .support of what we write we copy the following from an American authority on apple culture. Writing fif the cultivation of the <app!c he s.a vs: —

"It should ho tlic general purpose it*) till the apple orchard throughout its life. Mm whenever the trees seem t.o he growing too rapidly, the plantation may he see-d----ed down for .a time. Tliat is tillage is the general practice: seeding down is the special practice. For 'the first few years, 'antral crops may he griown in (he .apple orchard ; but every year a. more generous open space should be left il>r>ut the trees . Till as often as the laud becomes crusted or baked. On the strong soils which .are well handled, it is rarely necessary to apply concentrated fertilisers until the trees are old enough to hear. "What fertilisers are the nneeded. and how much to 'apply, are to ho determined by the behaviour of the- trees. Ff the trees arc making insufficient growth, and the foliage lacks colour, one or all of throe things may be the trouble: the trees may need water, they may he snfrerinrr from iiiso.-ts or disease, thev mav lack nitrogeii. Ij , it is thought that they lack nitrogen, thfs m.att"ria;l may be.supplied in the form of nitrate of soda, sulphate of .ammonia, or the unhurnt animal substances, as blood an id tankage. Two or three hundred pounds to the ao.ro ! of th'e nitrate of soda of sulphate of ammo'iiia are lilieral applications on well-, tailed grounds. If the trees are making vigorous growth, the probability is that they are. not in need of more nitrogen. Potash nnd phosph'orio .acid may now be applied. Three hundred pounds of .murinte of potash or other cmimitrated nm tenia 1 should be sufficient for an acre under ordinary conditions. As ■a rule, all orchards in full hearing ■should hnve a liberal .animal ap" plication o.f fertilising material."