Page 26 



clioscn bccnuse of the frost free con- 

 ditions, and such sloping or hilly hind 

 reciuircs a tractor which will not "ili.u 

 itself down" wlicn it comes to Icmsc 

 soil or an especially heavy pull. We 

 have here two opposing conditions 

 which work against satisfactory design 

 of wheel tractors for orchard work. 

 On the one hand the machine must be 

 built low lo move about beneath the 

 l)ranches of the trees, and on the other 

 hand, it needs especially large wheels 

 lo get traction in the excei)tionally 

 loose tilth of the orchards, many of 

 which arc located on gently sloijing or 

 hilly lands. Here again, the track-layer 

 type is eminently suited to the require- 

 ments. .\ tractor with all of its weight 

 on the "tracks" and these tracks ex- 

 tending the full length of the machine 

 and onl\ some two or three feet high. 



BETTER FRUIT 



embodies tlie best possible design for 

 orchard work. Furlbermore, it can be 

 low and compactly built and has the 

 abilitv 111 make very short turns, so 

 Iheorclically, such a tractor ought to be 

 the liisl word in design for orchard 

 puri)iises. 



j?ul now let us make our deductions 

 from these con.siderations. Track lay- 

 ers are eminently suited to orchard 

 work, there can be no (piestion about 

 thai. If an orchard is perfectly level, 

 Iherc' is no question that a wheel trac- 

 tor will be cheaper when interest on 

 investment, depreciation, repairs, and 

 cost of operating are concerned, but the 

 work may not be done as well as with 

 a track-layer and there may be some in- 

 jury done to trees in turning and oper- 

 ating under heavily laden trees. But if 

 there are any appreciable slopes in an 



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B i i S 



11 CONSULTING II 



1 1 HORTICULTURIST || 



PROFESSOR W. S.THORNBER 



Formerly 



HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE 



AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



Later 



DIRECTOR OF THE EXTENSION SERVICE 



OF THE 



STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON 



WILL ADVISE with fruit-growers upon all horticultural 

 problems, including selection and preparation of orchard 

 lands; propagation and care of nursery stock; planting and care 

 of young orchards and small fruit plantations; the control of 

 codling moth, San Jose scale, blight and other orchard pests; the 

 preparation of lime-sulphur at home and the mixing of other 

 sprays; economical orchard management; the irrigation and 

 fertilization of orchard lands; the use of cover-crops and grass 

 mulches; the pruning of fruit trees, shade trees, shrubs, bushes 

 and vines; the renovation of old or neglected orchards, top- 

 working or replacing of poor or unprofitable trees, and the 

 examining and the working out of practical management plans 

 for large orchards and orchard companies. 



If your orchard has not been a financial success, and you 

 wish to determine its possibilities or you wish to improve your 

 orchard, reduce your losses and increase your returns I wdl 

 assist you in working out your problem. 



WRITE FOR TERMS 



W. S.THORNBER 



LEWISTON, IDAHO 



June, igso 



orchard a track-layer will be essential 

 for satisfactory work. If a tractor must 

 have its disk harrow or other tool only 

 I)artly "set" in the ground in order to 

 avoid "digging in" the work will be so 

 inefTective that it hardly justifies the 

 cost of traveling over the ground. 



I have said nothing regarding the 

 acreage necessary to justify a tractor 

 in an orchard. It is probable that com- 

 munity ownership of tractors will not 

 develop far because of the need of hav- 

 ing fixed responsibility and preferably 

 only a single driver for a tractor. If the 

 site of the orchard is such that a wheel 

 tractor will operate satisfactorily, it 

 may be economical to use a machine on 

 as small a tract as ten acres. I know 

 of many small wheel tractors on tracts 

 of ten acres, but in every case the 

 owner does considerable tillage for 

 neighbors, so the machine operates on 

 from twenty to fifty acres. If it is ne- 

 cessary to have a track-layer, on ac- 

 count of the large initial cost it becomes 

 a question whether it will be economy 

 to use a tractor for less than twenty 

 acres, but with the operator willing to 

 hire out to his neighbors the machine 

 will be justified on a smaller acreage. 

 Of course in some cases where trees 

 are bending low with fruit and horse 

 tillage is impossible, the use of a 

 tractor may conserve moisture and 

 thereby increase the size of the fruit 

 to such an extent that the added in- 

 come in a single year will go far to- 

 ward paying for a machine. 



As to whether a tractor can entirely 

 displace horses in an orchard, I would 

 not yet venture an opinion. A tractor 

 engine must run all day long in order 

 to pul! the sprayer a few yards at a 

 time, and furthermore it needs the 

 highest paid hired man on the place to 

 operate it. It may be that if teams can 

 be eliminated entirely, thus doing away 

 with their care and feed all winter, it 

 would be economy to pay the larger 

 cost of operating the .spray outfit dur- 

 ing the spraying season, but so far I 

 have found such a great need of at 

 least one team for odd jobs, that I 

 would not feel satisfied to be entirely 

 independent of them. 





Che/aical 



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WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MKNTION BETTER FRUIT 



