oot
blue-jays, orioles, or yellowhammers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE APPLE _page_ 5
THE STATE, BY DISTRICTS 42
A SUMMARY OF THE FOREGOING DISTRICT REPORTS 187
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES RELATING TO ORCHARDS 191
ENEMIES OF THE APPLE 204
APPLES FOR THE TABLE 218
INDEX 225

THE APPLE.

THE CHEMISTRY OF THE APPLE TREE.

Written specially for "The Kansas Apple," By Prof. E. H. S. BAILEY,
Chemist at the Kansas State University.

In the cultivation of the apple tree, which, like most plants, gets its
nourishment from two sources, the soil and the atmosphere, these must be
first considered. From the soil come the mineral ingredients, those that
are given back to the soil when the plant is burned, and from the
atmosphere come the ingredients of no less importance in the growth of
the tree, but which mostly disappear as invisible gases upon combustion.
Upon the character of this soil, and upon the climate, a general term
that may be said to cover the conditions of the atmosphere, depend the
success of the horticulturist. In addition to this, insect pests are
liable to constantly menace the crop.

In the making of soils, a process that is constantly going on, the most
important agents are water, air, frost, sunshine, and the action of
living organisms. By this combined action, the mountain, with its rich
store of mineral matter, is disintegrated, its constituents are partly
dissolved in the water and partly carried mechanically to the plains
below; the air is distributed through the soil; seeds are dropped; the
living animal forms begin to multiply; the soil is enriched, and
gradually it begins to be in a condition suitable to bear the simpler
forms of vegetable life, which in turn decaying, add to the richness of
the soil.

Furthermore, the mechanical condition of the soil has much to do with
the successful growth of the plant. If the soil is extremely fine, it is
liable to become so compact that the rootlets cannot easily penetrate
it, when it is of such a composition as to bake readily in the sun; if
very coarse, like gravel, there is not a sufficient capacity to retain
moisture. It should, however, be porous enough to allow the air to
penetrate it, for upon the aeration of the soil depends much of its
fertility. We loosen the soil