CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Pole Shift Survival Information

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CERTdliV ELEi\IENTS IN NURSERY PRACTICE 175
The Iand shorlld ht strong enough t.o r&x a) good crop of wheat
: r c:orn.
\Vith fruit-t,rvc3, the age of the tree determines its salable-
Iless ; therefore it is imperative that the growth within the
given time he r;rpid and strong. N’ith orna,mentals, however,
the value is tlctc-~rmi!!ecl by the size of the specimen, with little
reference to its age. It therefore follows t,hat lands not sufficientlx
strong to allow of the profitar i!e growing of fruit-trees
ma)* still be useful for growing ornaniekitals.
111 consitleriug the question of t.hc fertility of nursery lands,
it is first ncccssary to determine what are the proportions of
the chief elements of plant,-food removed by the trees from
the soil. The star&trd investigations of Roberts, at Cornell,
still constitute a11 t3c4leut record :
“ Amounts ad values of fertilizing constituents removed
by a II acre of uurst’ry trees iu three years :
PEAcH~~H
PLUMR
Nitrogen . . . .
Phosphoric acid .
Potash . . . .
Lbs.
Value
22.42 $3 36
5.42 38
11.75 53
$4 27
Lb%
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Value
19.75 $2 96
4.42 31
11.50 52
$3 79
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“The above resuks show conclusively that but a small
amount of plant-food is removed from the soil by the growth
of nursery stock. They also show that more phosphoric acid
is removed by the apples and pears than by the peaches and
plums ; but. any orclinary soil, cultivated as nursery lands are,
should easily furnish in three years ten times the plant-food
used by the trees. In order to compare the drafts made by
nursery stock and some of the common crops raised in mixed