Page /-' 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



We Must Fill 



That 



Basket 



This is the most vital of all win-the-war messages. It is 

 addressed to you and to us — so that you will put forth every 

 available effort am! resource to plant big crops, and to us that 

 we may strain every effort to supply the highest quality seeds 

 for fruitful production. 



For over thirty years IltBB Seeds have been and are today 

 th« standard of the West — BEST FOB THE WEST. Tested 

 for germination and quality; adapted to Northwest soils and 

 climatic conditions. 



BUY EARLY — because good seeds are 

 in demand and stocks limited. Dealers sell 

 ES3 Seeds. Write for new catalog. 



THE CHAS. H. LILLY CO., 

 Seattle, Wash. & Portland, Ore. 



mart 



Established 1885 



Growing Orchard Crops 



By Prof. C. I. Lewis, Oregon Agricultural College 



ORCHARDISTS are asking them- 

 selves at this time what they can 

 grow in their orchards to help the food 

 situation. In young orchards from one 

 to five years of age, under normal con- 

 ditions, Ihe best crops to grow are such 

 crops as strawberries and hoed crops 

 such as tomatoes, mellons, squash, peas 

 and beans. To a certain extent, even 

 under war conditions, such crops 

 should still be produced, but the acre- 

 age is somewhat limited — at least the 

 market for the acreage of some of these 

 hoed crops is somewhat limited — and 

 orchardists should see to what extent 

 they can grow crops requiring the mini- 

 mum of labor and yet give large returns 

 of the world's food. Navy beans should 

 be- considered. Seed potatoes, corn for 

 ensilage or for hog feed, strips of vetch 

 such as purple vetch to be raised for 

 seed purposes, or vetch and oats for 

 hay, such grains as wheat, barley, oats 

 and buckwheat may also be planted. In 

 these young orchards, however, good 

 wide strips should be left close to the 

 trees so that the grain will not take 

 away any food and moisture which the 



trees need. If you are not careful, you 

 will be robbing the trees in order to 

 grow a temporary crop and will injure 

 the orchard more than the money you 

 will obtain for the crop. 



Where hogs are to be kept on the 

 farm, a rotation of crops could be 

 grown to good advantage. In the early 

 spring, Canada field peas should be 

 planted, and this will give some very 

 good feed to help in turning off the 

 hogs. For summer planting, about the 

 middle of July drill in such crops as 

 Aberdeen and Cow Horn turnips, vetch 

 and rape. This will make most excel- 

 lent hog feed in the fall and winter. In 

 orchards six to eight years of age 

 which are not bearing heavily, but 

 which are very vigorous, grain is the 

 ideal crop. Such grains as barley and 

 oats can be sown for hog feed and the 

 hogs can harvest such grains to very 

 good advantage. Another crop which 

 should receive more consideration from 

 the orehardist is buckwheat. This crop 

 allows for late seeding. It should be put 

 in an orchard where climatic conditions 

 have ruined the crop for the coming 



year. It will grow with a relatively 

 small amount of moisture and can be 

 handled fairly easily among the trees 

 and is a good cash crop and a good sub- 

 stitute for wheat in our food ration. 

 A much larger amount of buckwheat 

 should be raised among the orchardists 

 than has ever been raised before. The 

 buckwheat, in addition, has a tendency 

 on the heavier soils to make them 

 lighter and less compact and improve 

 their physical condition. Orchardists 

 should not neglect the possibilities of 

 sheep feeding. Right now in many or- 

 chards in Western and Southern Ore- 

 gon there is most excellent sheep feed. 

 Sheep could be turned into those or- 

 chards and could be allowed to run 

 until about the time of the spring plow- 

 ing. Of course if the ground is poorly 

 drained and too heavy, this practice 

 might be questioned, but in the ma- 

 jority of orchards this is not true, and 

 mild winter has given us a wonderful 

 amount of feed which could be turned 

 into mutton and wool. Orchards which 

 have very good cover crops will sup- 

 port sheep at this time to very good 

 advantage and the manure from the 

 sheep will compensate to a large extent 

 for the loss of organic matter. If sheep 

 injure trees they must be removed, but 

 this seems to be the exception where 

 there is plenty of feed. 



Where orchards are mature and in 

 bearing and are unirrigated, there is 

 practically nothing that can be grown 

 to advantage unless one could pasture 

 off some of the cover crops this spring. 

 In irrigated districts where alfalfa and 

 clover can be grown abundantly, sheep 

 can be used to good advantage. In all 

 these practices, however, one should 

 watch the trees carefully to see that 

 there is no injury by the animals or by 

 having all the moisture and food taken 

 away from them. 



Rice with Vegetables 



Rice can be combined successfully 

 with vegetables, and some of the dishes 

 are substantial enough for meatless 

 days. Red beans with rice make a 

 favorite dish in many parts of the 

 world. 



Red Beans and Rice. — Soak over night 

 a pound of red beans. Then simmer for 

 at least four hours in two full quarts of 

 water. When the beans are quite soft, 

 add a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of fat, 

 a small onion (minced) and half a red 

 pepper. Continue the simmering pro- 

 cess for two hours longer. Serve with 

 boiled rice. The combination is not 

 only good but represents a complete 

 ration. 



Cabbage with Rice. — Boil a head of 

 cabbage until tender, drain and cut out 

 the heart and center, fill in the opening 

 with a cup of boiled rice, which has 

 been highly seasoned with salt, pepper 

 and fat. Pour over all a cream sauce. 

 Chopped pimientos may be added to the 

 rice or paprika dusted over the whole 

 after the sauce is added. This makes 

 an excellent dish' when the meat course 

 is light. 



Rice and Onions. — Chop six onions 

 and put them into a frying pan with 

 one tablespoon of fat. When tender 



