Page 14 



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December 



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Experiments with Nitrate of Soda as a Fertilizer 



By Gordon G. Brown, Horticulturist Hood River Experiment Station, before State Horticultural Society at Roseburg, 1918 „,. 



,WING to the fact that a great deal 

 our attention at Hood River 



o 



V^ has been centered upon the prob- 

 lem of maintaining the vigor and pro- 

 ductivity of bearing apple trees by the 

 use of nitrate of soda, I take pleasure in 

 reviewing some of our recent observa- 

 tions, hoping that such suggestions may 

 be made as will have wide application. 

 Two years ago I had the pleasure of 

 addressing this society upon this sub- 

 ject, reviewing data as obtained to date. 

 Our problem then was to observe re- 

 sults obtained in orchards which had 

 previous to such applications been in a 

 declining state, as evidenced by a 

 decided lack of vigor and production. 

 Such unsatisfactory conditions obtained 

 because of lack of irrigation or cover 

 crops. 



Under the stimulating influences of 

 irrigation, cover crops and nitrate of 

 soda the conditions enumerated have in 

 most cases been entirely or at least very 

 largely overcome. Response from the 

 use of two successive annual applica- 

 tions in early March of five or six 

 pounds nitrate per tree was at once 

 very satisfactory, in that trees quickly 

 regained their lost balance. Vigor as 

 expressed in terminal growth and leaf 

 development exceeded that of unferti- 

 lized trees conspicuously. The percent- 

 age of fruit set doubled and trebled in 

 many instances, while larger yields of 

 better fruit were in proportion. The 

 first application of such fertilizer was 

 accompanied in very few instances by 

 undesirable results. The second and 

 third applications successively in larger 

 amounts, however, brought to the fore 

 very important questions relative to its 



future use. Such problems as the fol- 

 lowing readily suggested themselves: 

 Leguminous shade crops such as alfalfa 

 or clover having been established in the 

 orchard, what relation do they bear to 

 the use of nitrate or similar artificial 

 fertilizer? Since alfalfa usually occu- 

 pies the ground for many years, as con- 

 trasted with clover, a crop ordinarily 

 turned under for green manure after 

 its second or third season's growth, and 

 accompanied later by clean cultivation, 

 the relation of nitrate to each crop be- 

 comes a distinct one in either case. The 

 problem is still further complicated in 

 that it must, at Hood River, be studied 

 with reference to two or more varieties, 

 Spitzenburgs and Newtowns, each rep- 

 resenting different growing and pro- 

 ducing habits. We are interested in 

 knowing: can nitrate insure us large 

 and regular crops of good quality and 

 may the alternate bearing habits of 

 these varieties be influenced, and to 

 what extent? These are but a few of 

 the more important factors on which 

 information is desired. In dealing with 

 some of these points I .shall aim to 

 avoid defaifs in order to be as brief as 

 possible. 



Before proceeding further it will be 

 desirable to state briefly the natural 

 handicaps under which we are work- 

 ing. We have stated that both of these 

 varieties are more or less given to 

 alternate bearing. We find that with 

 our Newtowns and Spitzenburgs a close 

 relation exists between previous yields 

 and the percentage of blossoms setting 

 fruit during the subsequent year. We 

 have closely checked upon many dif- 

 ferent blocks and find the higher the 



percentage of fruit set the lower the 

 yields the previous year, or, stating the 

 proposition inversely, the higher the 

 yields this year the lower the percent- 

 age of fruit set next year. Again, as 

 might be surmised, smallest yields for 

 the year in which percentages set are 

 taken are associated with smallest per- 

 centages set, and vice versa. It appears 

 therefore from what has been said that 

 on an average the capacity of both 

 varieties to set and bear fruit is defi- 

 nitely limited. The data collected point 

 out that the natural tendency is, that 

 should the tree bear very heavily one 

 year the following year is one of 

 reaction, the degree of which is greatly 

 influenced by the quantity of fruit 

 borne during the previous year. The 

 grower of these varieties .should keep 

 in mind these natural limitations and 

 govern his orchard practices accord- 

 ingly. Naturally this fact bears an im- 

 portant relation to the character and 

 extent of pruning, thinning, etc. 



We have noted briefly what some of 

 the natural limitations are under which 

 the grower works in dealing with these 

 varieties. Let us see what influence soil 

 culture may exert upon tree perform- 

 ance. The grower readily appreciates 

 the importance of a full bloom. Some 

 are able, assuming a normal season, to 

 make a rough estimate thus early in the 

 year what final yields will be. All will 

 agree that we not only want a tree well 

 filled with blossoms, but we want it 

 filled every year. Further, we would 

 prefer having trees distribute the bloom 

 evenly from year to year, rather than 

 in alternate periods of extremely heavy 

 and extremely light bloom. Such an 



