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Effect of Fertilizer Treatment on Field‐Planted Spruce
Author(s) -
Lunt Herbert A.
Publication year - 1946
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1946.03615995001000c00069x
Subject(s) - forester , fertilizer , haven , state (computer science) , citation , soil water , state forest , forestry , mathematics , library science , environmental science , geography , chemistry , computer science , forest management , soil science , algorithm , combinatorics , organic chemistry
THE high costs of field planting dictate that survival and growth be as satisfactory as possible. Increasing field survival by only 20% may mean a saving of $3.00 an acre (i). According to the same authority, the country has some 32 million acres that should be planted, hence the savings could run into very large sums. Fertilizer applications are relatively inexpensive, and if their use, either in the nursery of in the field, results in better stands, they are well worth considering. Nemec's investigations in Czechoslovakia have convinced him that treatments in the nursery result in better growth in the field, regardless of actual growth responses in the nursery. This applies to hardwoods as well as conifers. Wilde, et al.' (5) found that complete fertilizers applied to jack, red, and Scotch pines in the nursery tended to increase survival, and definitely increased height growth in the field. The Allegheny Station ( i) reported that planting stock (loblolly pine) growing in highly fertilized nursery beds lacked drought resistance in the field unless the proportion of N to P and K was reduced. It was found that heavy'applications of fertilizer during the dormant period preceding planting out' increased survival as much as 20%. The use of fertilizer in the field at the time of planting has been tried in a number of instances with black locust, pines, and a few other species with variable results. Black locust on eroded land seems to show greatest response (2, 3, 4). Very little has been done on spruce. This paper is a report on work with stock produced at Peoples Forest Nursery and planted out in Pachaug State Forest.