19 1 9 



BETTER FRQ IT 



Page iQ 



over too long a period. Should it be 

 absolutely necessary to remove some of 

 the terminal growth, this might be done 

 to advantage at about the time the trees 

 have made a desirable terminal growth, 

 which would be by the middle of June. 

 Trees during this period that are very 

 vigorous and which bear a small 

 amount of fruit, generally produce 

 overgrown specimens, poorly colored, 

 and very subject to fruit pit. 



When our trees have reached the 

 third period, namely, that of heavy 

 bearing, we must again study the inter- 

 relation of pruning, tillage, fertilizing 

 and intercropping and the influence of 

 such practices on the vigor of the tree. 

 The production of regular heavy crops 

 of fruit is a drain on the tree and one 

 which we must constantly meet. We 

 again begin to follow more intensive 

 tillage as we did during the first period. 

 Early-spring plowing, thorough har- 

 rowing and frequent stirring of the 

 ground should be practiced so that 

 abundant moisture should be main- 

 tained until harvest time in the fall. 

 Under irrigated conditions we could to 

 advantage sow the orchard to alfalfa or 

 clover and irrigate thoroughly. If our 

 trees suffer for want of moisture, how- 

 ever, we will note certain undesirable 

 characteristics. The fruit tends to be 

 flat and smooth and the color dull and 

 unattractive, the wood, foliage, buds 

 and spurs show signs of devitalization 

 and the trees begin to set poorly and 

 mature small crops of inferior fruit. 

 MTiere there is an abundance of moist- 

 ure the color is bright and attractive; 

 the fruit tends to become oblong in 

 form, is large in size, leaves and fruit 

 show signs of good vigor and the culls 

 are materially reduced in quantity. 

 There is less cracking around the stem 

 and caly.K and less premature dropping 

 of fruit. 



Plenty of plant food at this time is 

 also very essential, the element which 

 seems to be lacking especially on the 

 lighter soils is nitrogen. The restora- 

 tion of nitrogen to the soil often pro- 

 duces marvelous results in a relatively 

 short time, ^^^lile we may add nitro- 

 gen to the soil in various ways, one of 

 the quickest ways is to add it in the 

 form of a highly-concentrated salt such 

 as nitrate of soda. To get the best 

 results, however, such application 

 should be made at least a month be- 

 fore the trees bloom. 



TABLE No. 1— INFLUENCE OF DATE OF AP- 

 PLICATION OF NITRATE OF SODA ON 

 PER CENT OF FRUIT SET 

 Variety Dale Applied Pet. of Set 



Newtown March 6 50.1 



Newtown March 20 46.4 



Newtown April 4 42.5 



Newtown April 18 No record 



Newtown May 7 



Spitzenberg March 6 



Spitzenberg March 20 



Spitzenberg April 4 



Spitzenberg April 18 



Spitzenberg May 7 



32.2 

 43.6 

 46.9 

 34.1 

 33.6 

 21.2 



Early fertilized Newtowns averaged 7.9 

 boxes; late fertilized Newtowns averaged 2.28 

 boxes; early fertilized Spitzenbergs averaged 

 10.83 boxes; late fertilized Spitzenbergs aver- 

 aged 1.20 boxes. 



Treatment 



1916 



Clover green manure 



Clover green manure 



Clover green manure 



Orchard No. 1 



Pounds 



Per Tree 



1914 1915 



5.2 5.2 



5.2 5.2 



5.2 5.2 



No fertilizer 



Orchard No. 2 



la 6.75 6.75 



2b 6.75 6.75 



3c 6.75 6.75 



4 No fertilizer 



(a) Fertilizer broadcast on ground 



sprayed on ground and tree as liquid. 



TABLE No. 2. 



Plat 

 No. 



la 



2b 



3c 



4 



Alfalfa sod 

 Alfalfa sod 

 Alfalfa sod 

 either year. . 



1914 



4.1 



.1 



.2 



1.9 

 2.3 

 9.8 

 2.1 



-Yields, 



1915 



8.1 



8.5 



6.00 



.31 



10.0 



9.9 



10.1 



.9 



Loose Boxes- 



1916 

 13. 

 11.8 



9.6 



14.8 



15.5 



15.7 



5.7 



Average 

 8.4 

 7.8 

 5.3 

 3.1 



8.8 



9.2 



11.8 



2.9 



Terminal Growth 

 Inches 



Average 



1914-15 



15.2 



11.4 



13.9 



6.9 



8.4 

 10.3 

 10.9 



6.6 



1916 

 20.1 

 17.1 

 16.1 

 19.9 



15.4 

 8.4 



14.7 

 5.2 



(b) Fertilizer sprayed on ground as liquid; (c> Fertilizer 



Except during the first year, nothing is seemingly gained bv placing the nitro- 

 gen in liquid torm on the ground or spraying it on the trees. The reason for the 

 results the first year is that we had a very dry spring, the dry nitrate was added 

 rather late, and thus the nitrate spread broadbcast did not get into solution in time 

 to be of benefit to the trees during the blooming period. 



TABLE No. 3- 



-FIVE-YEAR SUMMARY, YIELDS AND VIGOR GROWTH, ORCHARDS 1 AND 2 

 SPITZENBURGS. 



Orchard Xo. 1 



Plat 1 



5.2 



5.2 



Pounds Nitrate 

 Per Tree 



3.0 



1914.... 



1915 



1916 



1917 



1918 



Average 



Orchard So. 2 



1914 6.7 



1915 6.7 



1916 



1917 



1918 3.0 



Average 



2 

 5.2 

 5.2 



•3.0 



6.7 

 6.7 



3.0 



3 



Check 

 none 



i 

 5.2 

 5.2 



6.7 

 6.7 



Plat 1 



4.1 



8.1 

 13.0 

 18.7 



5.7 



9.93 



9.8 



10.1 



15.7 

 4.5 

 6.66 

 9.38 



Yields per Tree 

 Loose Boxes 



2 

 .2 

 6.0 

 9.6 

 18.6 

 2.6 

 7.4 



1.6 

 10.0 

 14.8 

 2.8 

 6.8 

 7.21 



3 



.2 



.3 



8.8 



15.3 



1.1 



5.1 



2.1 

 .9 

 5.7 

 3.9 

 5.5 

 3.6 



// 



.1 



14.8 



14.8 



17.3 



4.0 



8.9 



2.3 

 9.9 

 15.5 

 3.3 

 5.0 

 7.2 



Terminal Growth, Inches 

 Annual Average 



Plat 1 

 12.8 

 18.0 

 20.1 

 13.3 

 17.6 

 16.3 



14.0 

 14.7 

 11.1 

 12.5 

 12.03 



10.8 

 17.0 

 16.1 

 14.0 

 13.2 

 14.2 



5.8 

 11.0 

 15.4 

 11.2 

 10.6 

 10.3 



3 

 7.5 

 6.4 

 19.9 

 18.1 

 13.2 

 13.0 



5.3 

 8.0 

 5.2 

 12.1 

 10.3 

 8.1 



9.25 

 13.6 

 17.1 

 10.6 

 14.6 

 13.07 



4.5 

 16.2 



8.4 

 10.7 

 13.5 

 10.6 



Table 3 gives a summary of the yields and growth of two orchards in the Hood 

 River Valley over a five-year period. A continuation of the study of the orchards 

 described in Table 2. 



TABLE 4— PER CENT OF SET AND SIZE OF FRUIT INFLUENCED BY NITROGEN 

 HOOD RIVER EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Plat 



1 



2 



3 



4. 



Pounds 

 Per Tree 

 . . 6.7a 

 . . 6.7b 

 . . 6.7c 

 .0 



Fruit Set 

 June 4 

 82.6 

 08.0 

 69.6 

 35.3 



Fertilized averages 73.4 



Difference 38.1 - 



Per Cent 

 September 30 

 34.6 

 30.7 

 37.3 

 16.4 

 34.2 

 17.8 + 



^Size of Fruit—, 

 •175-150 '138-112 



8.28 

 22.64 

 24.61 

 76.24 

 18.5 

 57.74- 



21.71 



29.13 



41.87 



18.32 



31.9 



13.58 + 



•Note — Figures 175 to 150 and 138 to 112 refer to the number of apples to the box. 



Per Cent 



100 



and Larger 



68.10 



48.23 



24.61 



5.43 



46.9 



41.47 + 



TABLE 5. 



.Spitzenbergs — 

 Plat 

 No. 



1 



2 



3 



4. 



Poiuids 

 Fertilizer 



Per Tree 

 . . 7.3 

 . . 5.00 



Newlowns- 



3.00 



7.3 

 5.00 



3.00 



Terminal 



Growth 



Inches 



11.7 



9.9 



4.1 



14.1 



9.5 

 6.2 

 4.5 

 6.4 



r-Leaf Growth-^ 

 (Inches! 

 Length Width 



2.95 1.79 



2.92 1.90 



1.99 1.35 



2.90 1.85 



2.93 

 2.79 

 2.32 

 2.75 



1.92 

 1.82 

 1.48 

 1.93 



Yields 



Per Tree 



Loose Boxes 



16.1 



13.44 



8.511 



12.61 



14.1 



11.9 



5.3 



•9.5 



Increase 

 Per Cent 



87 

 56 



47 



166 

 124 



During the past two years we have conducted additional work in both the Hood 

 River and Rogue River Valleys. The following tables show the results of our 

 experiments for the seasons 1916, 1917 and 1918. In Table 6 we give two orchards 

 in Hood River Valley. 



TABLE 6— YIELDS PER TREE AND VIGOR OF GROWTH. 

 Spitzenbergs — Orchard 3 



Note — It is to be noted that the letters A and B mean that after the season of 1916 each plot 

 was divided into two plantings, each receiving nitrate alternately. 



Rogue River Experiments. 



TABLE No. 7— FERTILIZERS APPLIED 1917. 

 Spitzenburg Apples. 



Pounds 

 Fertilizers applied Per Tree 



Sulphate of ammonia. 



Nitrate of soda 



Nitrate of soda 



Superphosphate 



Check 



Dried blood 



5 

 5 

 5 

 5 



'en 



Bo.res 



Per Tree 



5.93 



7.60 



8.73 



V.33 

 3.35 



One can readily see that the trees are 

 revitalized, so to speak, very rapidly, 

 and the influence is shown in the blos- 

 som.s, percentages of set and also in the 

 attractiveness of blossoms, the nitrate 

 making them more showy and at- 

 tractive. The influence is also shown 

 in the iicrccntage of yields, in the size 



