Page 20 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



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The 



Standard Reference 



for Home Gardners 



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Special catalog on request. 



OREGON GROWN Seeds and Plants- 



^^ Improved varieties of our own introduc- 

 tion — have stood the test of time and com- 

 petition and are established standards in 

 the coast market. 



Thefoliowing big successes are our 

 original introductions: 



Earliest of All and Pride of Multnomah 

 Potatoes, Golden West Sugar Corn, 

 Oregon Yellow Danvers Onions, St. Val- 

 entine Broccoli, Shadeland Seed Oats, 

 Oregon Yellow Dent Corn, New Oregon 

 Strawberries, Riverside Giant Rhubarb. 

 These have won large returns for growers. 

 They Will Win for You. 



QUR 1919 Catalog and Planters Guide 



^^ is the standard reference for Growers 

 of the Northwest, listing the best of every- 

 thing for Farmers, Gardeners, Home Own- 

 ers, Poultrymen and Bee Keepers — gives 

 reliable information and is a safe guide to 

 your purchases. 

 Your name should be on our list. Ask for Catalog No. 200 



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OFFICES 



AND SALESROOMS 

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APPLES 



For European 



PEARS 



Distribution 



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Long Acre, Covent Garden, London 



'Geracost, London." Codes: A. B. C. 5th £klition and Private 



SHIPPING AGENTS: 

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of fruit and in the color. As regards 

 color, however, we would warn against 

 the excessive use of this fertilizer. 

 From three to five pounds, under our 

 conditions, has been ample, and while 

 greater yields can be obtained from 

 seven to ten pounds, the color is so 

 greatly reduced as to be often unde- 

 sirable. 



TABLE No. 8— FERTILIZERS APPLIED 1916. 

 Spitzenburg Apples. 



Pounds Bo.ves 



Fertilizers applied Per Tree Per Tree 



Nitrate of soda 10 21.7 



Check 4.1 



Superphosphate 10 2.5 



Muriate of potash 8 4.3 



Here the yield one year after appli- 

 cation is greatly increased; too much 

 so, since the color is poor. 



Under irrigated conditions we have 

 advised the growers to add nitrate of 

 soda where the trees are showing signs 

 of being run down, but to immediately 

 plant alfalfa, clovers or similar crops 



in the orchard and irrigate them thor- 

 oughly. After two years, under most 

 conditions, such crops will furnish the 

 desired nitrogen to the trees. With 

 some varieties, however, continued ap- 

 plication of the nitrate will pay. 



Under non-irrigated conditions, we 

 are supplanting the use of nitrates by 

 using cover crops. The following con- 

 clusion on our nitrate studies in Oregon 

 are of interest: 



An application of five pounds of 

 nitrate of soda will quickly restore 

 devitalized trees. 



The benefits of nitrate applications 

 are shown in dark green foliage. 



Better wood growth. 



More attractive blossoms and a much 

 better set. 



Nitrated trees utilize available bloom 

 better. 



A tendency to bloom more regularly, 

 nitrate tending to regulate bloom in 



that it is better distributed from year 

 to year. 



Greatly increased yields. 



Uarge specimens. 



Color of red varieties receiving nitrate 

 on the whole not as good as checks, but 

 of good commercial color unless exces- 

 sive amounts of nitrate are used. 



The response is in proportion to the 

 amount of fertilizer used, three to five 

 pounds under normal conditions being 

 more satisfactory than larger amounts. 



The influence of nitrate is more 

 marked in the years when trees would 

 naturally have big crops and not during 

 light years. 



When trees have been restored to 

 vigor by two successive annual appli- 

 cations of nitrate followed by the use 

 of clover or alfalfa as green manure, 

 yields during two or three years sub- 

 sequently have not greatly differed 

 from that of trees receiving only the 

 influence of the cover crop. This was 

 especially true for Newtowns, but not 

 so much so for Spitzenberg. 



The benefits from the use of nitrate 

 extend over two seasons. 



The greatest benefit comes when ap- 

 plied to devitalized trees under clean 

 tillage conditions. 



Where plenty of moisture occurs in 

 soil, spread the fertilizer on broadcast; 

 under dry conditions either apply as a 

 liquid or spray on the trees. Such 

 spray may be combined with lime and 

 sulphur. 



To get best results, nitrate should be 

 applied about a month before the trees 

 bloom. 



In a general way I would wish to 

 say that the pruning of such trees 

 should be regular, should be moderate 

 and well distributed throughout the 

 trees. We should tend generally to 

 avoid excessive heading or excessive 

 thinning unless trees have entered such 

 a decline that it has become absolutely 

 necessary to build large quantities of 

 new wood. 



For the past twelve years we have 

 been conducting at the Oregon Experi- 

 ment Station research studies on the 

 subject of fruit pollination. Results of 

 these researches have been published 

 from time to time in various station 

 bulletins. We have determined the 

 sterile and fertile varieties and the pos- 

 sibility of inter-pollination. We soon 

 realized that such studies were insufS- 

 cient. We then made a detailed study 

 of the morphology of the fruit. This in 

 turn made it necessary to carry our 

 studies into new fields. The results of 

 our nitrate work in Hood River and 

 elsewhere led us to believe that there 

 was a correlation between the feeding 

 of the trees and the setting of fruit. 

 Accordingly Dr. E. J. Kraus decided to 

 spend a couple of years at Chicago and 

 together with Dr. H. R. Kraybill of the 

 Agricultural Chemistry Department of 

 the Pennsylvania State College, studied 

 the influence of nutrition on the setting 

 of fruit. In order that they could se- 

 cure frequent crops, they chose the 

 tomato, which would give them six 

 crops in a season when grown under 

 greenhouse conditions, the results of 

 which have been published in Bulletin 



