June, ig20 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 15 



set out in such a way as to decrease 

 the slope of the furrows. 



The number of furrows in orchards 

 should .depend on the age of the trees, 

 the space between the rows, the depth 

 of furrow, and the character of the 

 soil. Nursery stock should be irrigated 

 by one or two furrow-s and young trees 

 by two to four. A common spacing for 

 shallow furrows is two and one-half 

 feet, but deeper furrow^ are three to 

 four feet apart. The general trend of 

 orchard practice is toward deep rather 

 than shallow furrows, a depth of eight 

 inches being used in many instances. 



In spacing furrows chief considera- 

 tion should be given to the lateral move- 

 ment of moisture in the soil on each 

 side of the furrows, so as to insure a 

 fairly uijiform distribution of moisture. 



In' the Payette Valley, Idaho, 200 or 

 more miner's inches are fumed into the 

 head ditch and divided up by means of 

 wooden spouts into a like number of 

 furrows. On steep ground much small- 

 er streams are used. The length of the 



furrow varies from 300 feet on steep 

 slopes to 600 feet and more on flat 

 slopes. The time required to moisten 

 the soil depends on the length of the 

 furrow and the nature of the soil. In 

 this locality it varies from three to 30 

 hours. 



A 20-acre orchard tract under the 

 Sunnyside canal in the Yakima Valley, 

 Washington, is watered four times in 

 each season with 14 miner's inches 

 (0.35 cubic foot per second.) Three 

 furrows are made between the rows, 

 which are 40 rods long. The total sup- 

 ply is applied to one-half the orchard 

 (ten acres) and kept on 48 hours. 



On the clayey loams of the apple or- 

 chards on the east beach of the Bitter 

 Root River, Montana, Professor R. W. 

 Fisher, formerly horticulturist of the 

 agricultural college of Montana, has 

 found, as a result of experimenting, that 

 it requires from 12 to 14 hours to 

 moisten the soil in furrow irrigation 

 four feet deep and three feet sideways. 



A Practical Demonstration of Fruit Thinning 



By C. A. Noren 



NOW that the apples arc packed and 

 sold it is easy to obtain facts and 

 figures relative to the value and advis- 

 ability of thinning apples. 



I have obtained four sets of compari- 

 sons of well thinned and poorly thin- 

 ned orchards. 



In three cases the orchards adjoin 

 each other so that the conditions under 

 which they were grown are very simi- 

 lar. Further, these figures were ob- 

 tained from four different warehouses 

 and therefore should be representative. 

 The tables were figured on a basis of 

 1000 boxes to make the results more 

 comparable. 



The first comparison is that of two 

 adjoining orchards, Jonathans, both of 

 fhem well cultivated. 



Well Thinned Orchard— 990 boxes of 

 4% tier and larger apples; 10 boxes of 

 five tier apples. 



Poorly Thinned Apples — 675 boxes of 

 4% tier and larger apples; 170 boxes of 

 five tier apples; 155 boxes jumbles. The 

 Jonathan being medium sized, these is 

 no excuse for having so many small 

 apples from this orchard. The owner 

 did not think it paid to thin. 



Table two is a comparison of two ad- 

 joining Winesap orchards on similar 

 soils. 



Eight hundred and twenty-six 4V4 tier 

 and larger; 77 boxes five tier, and 97 

 boxes jumbles. 



This orchard had better than the 

 average thinning. 



Three hundred and eighty-seven 

 4% tier and larger; 315 boxes of five 

 tier and 298 boxes jumbles. 



A poorly thinned orchard. From the 

 above table it will be seen that the 

 fruit runs 86.6 per cent 4% tier and 

 larger in the well thinned orchard as 

 against 38.7 per cent. 



The third table is that of two Wine- 

 sap orchards not adjoining each other 

 but on similar soil and botli in alfalfa. 



Well Thinned Orchard— 9G3 boxes of 

 4y2 tier and larger; 20 boxes of five tier 

 and 17 boxes jumbles. 



Poorly Thinned Orchard— 200 boxes 

 4V2 tier and larger; 447 boxes five tier 

 and 353 boxes jumbles. 



The first oichard runs 96.3 per cent 

 4% tier and larger as against 20 per 

 cent in the latter. 



The fourth table shows the compari- 

 son of two adjoining Winesap orchards 

 on similar soils and on clean cultivated 

 ground. 



Well Thinned— 950 boxes 4y2 tier and 

 larger and 50 boxes five tier. 



Poorly Thinned — 500 boxes 4% tier 

 and larger and 500 boxes five tier and 

 smaller. 



Figured in actual money loss per 1000 

 boxes it varies from $152.50 in the case 

 of the Jonathan orchards to $535.60 in 

 third table. Add to this the additional 

 cost of handling the smaller apples be- 

 cause of there being more of them, the 

 loss is still greater. 



Another fact which might be brought 

 out is that the larger apples invariably 

 run a higher percentage to extra fancy 

 than do the smaller apples. Following 

 are figures from two orchards in the 

 comparison tables showing some inter- 

 esting figures. In the well thinned or- 

 chard the packout was: 



Seventy-three per cent extra fancy; 

 10 per cent fancy and 17 per cent C 

 grade. 



In the poorly thinned orchard we 

 have: 47 per cent extra fancy; 27 per 

 cent fancy and 20 per cent C grade. 



Later it was found that all the 

 "fancies" had to be marked C grade 

 on account of lack of color, making a 

 total of 53 per cent C grade apples. The 

 loss in the second orchard amounts to 

 $3,30. 



The loss in money due to small fruit 

 during the past year is the least item to 

 be considered. The reason for the small 

 fruit as shown in the tables is due to 



THE LADDER TO PROFIT 



is the 



Elimination 

 0/ Expense 



The steps of the'jadder are the appHances 

 that efficientl y eliminate labor. Price 

 makes t hese ladders, complete in every 

 step— all equipment_needejdJor the most 

 efficient handling, sorting, sizing and 

 packing of fruit. 



Price PRICE Products 



BEFORE YOU BUY 



Information, Catalogues and Price Lists 

 ^will be furnisfied on request. 



Price Manufacturing Co., Inc. 



YAKIMA, WASHINGTON 

 Our Consulting Oflice is "At Your Service" 



WHEN WRITING MIVKRTISERS MKNTION IlKTTEK FKUIT 



