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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1914)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Washington State College is the Friend of the Farmer Bulletins and News Notes From the Staff at Pullman. '- ggsFrjg- -atr I View of Washington Agricultural College, Pullman, Washington, the Bole Ajn of Which Is to Aid Agriculturists. . i PBTNE OBOWTNO IN SOTJTHWEST EEN WASHINGTON. By 0. M. Mois, Horticulturist. THIS bulletin discusses the cause of tlio frequent failure of ilio pmnc crop in a few localities in South western Washington and suggests some changes in orchard management for the improvement of theso conditions. There aro many orcharJs that have eaeh year produced mcdiu:n heavy crops of good fruit; but each year Ihero are many orchard') that produce little or no fruit. The crop failures of any one year are usually prevalent iu pome particular localities; and ouly on ran occasions arc the fruitless or barren orchards sur rounded by productive ones. It is com HI0.1 to find one part of tho orchard more productive than other parts. This uneven production is most noticeable in orchards bearing a light crop, and those orchard i have increased in num ber in the last few years. Tho crop condition:! during 1912 and 11)13 Imvo been studied very closely. A survey of the soil and orchard condi tions und a study of the weather records seem to justify sonio conclusions that may bo helpful to the prune growers of the region. This bulletin is ouly a preliminary report and may be followed by others based ou moro definite experi mental data. The Italian Prune. The Italian prune lias been planted in greater quantity than all other varieties. The other varieties have not proved to be its equal in vigor of tree, productiveness, size and qnality of fruit, it grows and fruits best on a deep fer tile loam or clay loam soil. The tree is vigorous and hardy, but is liable to show weakness in resistance to disease and insect attacks when grown on soil to which it is not adapted. This weak ness is also often indicated by the loss of crop during inclement weather. The tree has a strong tendency to produce moro twigs and small branches than it can continue in growth. It is subject to over production of fruit also and will not thin its fruit by dropping the sur plus or overload like some other vari eties of pruns. This over production of fruit and wood weakeos the entire tree, It blossoms about the middle of the plum blossoming season. The French Prune. The French prune was planted to some extent about twelve to eighteen years ago. The tree is vigorous and product ive. It is less popular than the Italian because of tho small sizo of its fruit, and because of its disfavor in the mar ket. Thero are very few localities, if any, where this variety should be plant ed jn commercial orchards in Clarke County. The Sugar Plum. A few trees of the sugar plum have been planted in several orchards. The trees bear young and heavily. . The fruit is of good size and appearance, but does not dry so well as the Italian va riety and is often severely criticised' on that account. Until it has been bet ter tested and its value more fully proven, it can not be recommonded for commercial planting. The blossoms, leaves and fruit of the prunes aro frost tender and escape se vere injury when frosts occur, only by the existence of an especially favorable condition of the soil and air preceding and immediately following tho frost. Plants that are vigorous are most able to resist unfavorable weather condi tions. Soil. The orchards of Clarke County have been planted oil every variety of soil available. One extreme type is repre sented by the heavy loam and clay soils Jrith deep clay subsoil. This is eouiaion along the edge of the plateau running north from Vancouver. Another type is represented by thin, light, gravelly soil, usually underlaid with coarse, open gravel subsoil. This is found in the cen tral part of the county. All slopes and oxposures of soil have been planted and a remarkable number of the plantings have been profitable. The heavy and medium deep soils have a good water holding capacity and aro generally well adapted to orchard production. The lightest soils are not capable of carry ing a heavy stand of fruiting trees throughout the summer, and could prob ably be made more profitable if devoted to other erops. Planting. The trees are usually set about 18 to 22 feet apart each way- and grown to tho largest sizo possible while young. In many orchards the trees are too close xnd the tints are crowded and the roots cannot obtain sufficient planl food to keep tho trees in full vigor. Overcrowd ing lowers the productive capacity and shortens the life of the tree. Cutting out some of the trees in some of the orchards would bo beneficial, but in very few cases are the planting plans satisfactory for such work. Pruning. The pruning systems adopted by the different growers vary from that of careful, systematic shaping of tho tree top, to the other extreme of entire neg lect. The frame work of the tree should consist of three to five large branches so distributed as to make a well bal anced tree top. These large branches should send out smaller ones near the base, and higher up should gradually divide into a largo number of limbs. Tho fruiting wood should be well dis tributed from center to circumference of the top. As the trees advance in age tho fruiting wood will be farther from the trunk. The normal tendency is to form a dense canopy of twigs and foliage around the outside of the top and shade to death all twigs inside. This has not been appreciated by many growers, and they bavo attempted to do all necessary pruning by cutting out a few large limbs. The small branches become very thick and tho foliage so dense that direct sunlight can not reach the inner part of tho tree. The twigs become weak, slender and pendant in form and a largo number of them die each year. An Annual Operation. Pruning should be an annual opera tion and should be considered as one of the cultural lines of work to be con tinued throughout the life of the orch ard. The height of the trunk is large ly a matter of personal preference, but there seems to be a strong tendency to go to the extreme and have the trunks five feet or moro in height. A trunk three feet tall will ordinarily be satis factory for the development of good trees. The young trees should be cut back each year until they have reached bearing age. This will develop large, stocky trunks and branches and with the new growth properly thinned the best formed trees can be developed. The frame work of the tree must be so arranged that the fruiting wood of the bearing tree will be evenly dis tributed throughout the entire space that tho top of the tree occupies. The top should be so thinned that some of the direct rays of the sun will reach the center of the tree or even the ground beneath. Heavy and light pruning are relative terms und are used arbitrarily. Pruning may be said to be heavy when it causes the trees to send up a large number of water sprouts and is too severe for vigorous trees that are fruiting regu larly, but it is often the best that can be given old or weak trees that are pro ducing light crops of small fruit. Prun ing is usually described as light when only the very weak or dead twigs and the crossing and interfering branches are removed. Tillage. The most common practice of tillage is that of plowing the land in the spring with a turning plow and immediately working it down into a fine level con dition and continuing clean shallow till ago through the summer. The test prac tice, -and ono commonly followed by many of the successful prune growers is to follow the above system of spring and early summer tillage, and in late summer to seed the orchard down to vetch. This. crop grows on the land dur ing the fall, winter and early spring, and after it has developed a good mat of green material it is plowed under late in April or early May. Clean tillage is then continued as in the previous sea son. Some growers make the mistako of plowing before a good crop is developed to plow under, and fail to obtain the most possible fertilizing value from the crop. The opposite tendency is to let the cover crop stand until it has taken from the soil a part of the moisture that should be saved for the use of the trees. Tho aim should be to let the vetch develop to the. largest size possi ble without robbing the soil of moisture that will bo greatly needed by the trees before the close of tho season. The system of tillage generally is auite good, but comparatively few of tho orchards are so managed that the. soil fertility is maintained or improved from year to year. The soil fertility should be improved as the orchards crow older. The trees are larger and are capablo of bearing more fruit. The orchards on the poorest sou have been failing in crop production most fre quently, the trees making less growth, the leaves being smaller and showing a greater tendency to curl and expose tho under' side, giving the tree a light gray appearance when seen from a dis tance. Somo of this soil is so impover ished that it will not produce a good crop of vetch or weeds and grass. The fertility of such soils must be increased before the trees can be expected to pro duce satisfactory crops. The application of decaying vegetation in the form of barnyard manure will be the best and surest method where this material iB available. The application of commer cial fertilizers in sufficient quantity to give a cover crop a good vigorous start in the fall and early spring would prob ably be of value. The limited tests that have been made indicate that nitrate of soda or some form of nitrogen fer tilizer will give best ivsults. Orchard Conditions. The orchards vary greatly in vigor and regularity of crop production, and these two qualities seem to be so close ly jelatod that the second is in direct proportion to the first. A few orch ards located on good soil that is espe cially subject to late spring frosts have repeatedly failed to produce good crops. Land in such locations should be de voted to other erops. The orchards on thin, light soil need all the help in improving the fertility of the land that can be given. The trees on this soil also require more careful pruning and thin ning of the crop. One or two crop fail ures have disheartened the owners, orchards have been neglected to their permanent injury and some made en tirely worthless. The poor or unprofit able orchards should be improved by adopting a better system of tillage, fer tilizing, pruning and spraying or should be cut out at once. Orchards tever im prove by neglect. In Nuremberg, Grmny, SOO Wortmon are employed ia mating '.Mil soldiers auii lead toys, PREPABINQ FETJIT EXHIBITS. IK a short time now, states B. X Barnett, Pomologist of the Wash-, ington Agricultural Station at PuB; man, an interesting part of tho fruit grower's mail will consist of the prf: mium lists issued by the various fair asosciations. A careful study of these will prove of value to all, but morii especially to prospective exhibitors, al a thorough knowledge of tho entry re quirements and premium classes is neees- sary in making up a successful exhibit. Fruit fit to be taken to the fair most have been well grown. It Is possible, for a poorly cared for orchard to pro- duee a winning plate, but it is a rare thing, and, when it comes to the larger box classes, practically impossible, well crown fruit has been properly sprayed, cultivated, pruned, thinned and bar vested. Too great emphasis is usually put oa the matter of size by both the manage ment of the fair and the entrant. Tho abnormal, whether it be an apple the size of a pumpkin or a five-legged eair is of interest, but should never be made even an important feature and could, well be left out entirely. Fruit for exhibit should be selected from a large quantity and in good day light, should show the proper form, sir and color for the variety and the indi viduals should be uniform in the above characteristics. It should not be neces sary to say that show fruit must be wholly free from injury or blemish of any kind, not even a limb rub or brok en stem. If the fair is placing emphasis on the commercial side of the fruit industry, pack becomes important and should have eareful study, especially when the fruit is apples or pears. Proper packing presupposes correct grading, which should have been done in good light and with a large quantity of fruit at hand. It is the custom te givo equal value to bulge, alignment hoight of endt compactness and attract iveness. In a commercial way, however, the amount of bulge and the compact ness are more important than the other features. Most of the packed apples which win prizes have been put up by expert packers. For the earlier shows the peaches, plums, grapes and other soft fruits should be made more important parte at the exhibits and the requirements of perfection for them more rigidly en forced. With them condition, including freedom from blemishes and the physi cal condition of the fruit, is of primary importance arid must bo carefully con sidered in choosing the show fruit. Oversize in this class is nearly always accompanied by defect of other kinds and what the exhibit might gain far being quite largo is likely to be lost be cause of split stone, cracked skin or similar defects. District displays are of value for ad vertising purposes and prove one of the most attractive features of many fairs; The whole district should join in pre paring them, under tho direction of a committee, and each contribute accord ing to his ability. Tho experiment station of the Wash ington Slato College has now in press a popular bulletin treating much more fully of thiB subject. This bulletin win be sent to those applying for it No Excuse for Cholera. If it were not for hog cholera port raisers would be living In the lap 4 luxury. The time will come when there will be no more excuse for bog cholera than for the human cholera that until a century or so ago periodically devas tated Europe and America. Both art essentially filth diseases.
