| Abstract: | Nitrogen turnover in some orchard soils of South West Germany Investigations in several orchards in South West Germany led to the following results: The actual content of mineral nitrogen as well as the rate of mineralization showed a marked dependence on the nature of soil, weather and soil management. Frequently the rate of mineralization had a distinct annual course following soil temperature. During summer additional oscillations partially were related to water and air contents of the soils. As a rule under old sward the rate of mineralization was distinctly higher than in the same soil being cultivated or treated with herbicides. Under mulched sod not only higher rates of mineralization, but also distinctly higher actual contents of mineral nitrogen could be found as compared with data under cropped sod. This ran parallel with higher nitrogen supplies to the trees and distinctly higher yields, but also with a worse storage quality of the fruits and conspicuously increased wash-out rates of nitrate (provided that manuring was continued with the primary amount of nitrogen). The total content of soil nitrogen depended much more on the method of soil management (swarded or not swarded) than on the amount of nitrogen fertilizers. It seems that the total nitrogen content of a soil tends towards a certain level corresponding to the conditions of site and soil managements and that this level cannot be raised constantly by manuring. From these results the following conclusions for practical fruit growing can be drawn: With modern forms of commercial fruit growing using mulched sward for soil management the nitrogen output is much less than with cultivating the same soil as arable land or intensive grassland. Due to cropping of the grass in former times nitrogen deficiency of fruit trees was not unusual, but since the grass under the trees has been mulched there is more danger of excessive nitrogen supply if manuring has been left as it was. Unlike the situation known of sand cultures with low nitrogen reserves in orchards with high mineralization rates the time of manuring is not of great consequence. |
