Page 26 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



Grow More and Better Fruit 



That's the ambition of Every fruitgrower— to increase his yield 

 and improve its quality. 



And that is just why thousands of other experienced growers 



Use Nitrate of Soda 



It is the best fer- 



and are enthusiastic about the results obtained. 



Nitrate of Soda is clean, odorless and easy to handle, 

 tilizer because it does its work well and does it quickly. 



15% Nitrogen— Equal to 18% Ammonia 

 Immediately Available 



Don't delay. Blossom time will soon be here. Write TODAY for booklet 

 giving information that will add dollars to your bank account. 



NITRATE AGENCIES CO. 



Hoge Building, SEATTLE 



Soil Packing — Prevention and Restoration 



As the process of restoring packed 

 soil to a mellow state does not in 

 any way relate to the process 

 whereby it is packed, you cannot undo 

 it by backing up as one would unravel 

 a piece of knitting to arrive at the be- 

 ginning; or, if being injured by falling 

 headlong over a log one might reason 

 that to fall backwards over the log 

 might remedy the injury. Some things 

 can be handled on that theory. For 

 instance, a lazy man who is seeking an 

 excuse to quit picking blackberries 

 when his wife wants a few to can — but 

 not packed soil. 



Anyone without much thought can 

 easily pack a field by mudding around 

 in it, and the nearer this is done to the 

 time when dry weather sets in the 

 better the job will be. The first thing 

 one should consider is prevention as 

 far as possible, because restoration is a 

 slow and tedious process, especially on 

 black, low soils that tend to he mucky. 



However, before going into preven- 

 tions or remedies, let us be sure we 

 know how to pack soil in the various 

 ways. Late spring plowing, when the 

 ground is too wet and already laying 

 heavy, done just before a dry windy 

 spell of weather, is usually considered 

 to be one of the best ways to pack soil; 

 but I will tell you this is only a small 

 part of it. Of course, it is a wrong 

 start, but most times the job of soil 



By C. W. Krues, Oswego, Oregon 



packing gets the "final wallup" when 

 the harrowing is done too soon. The 

 farmer thinks the clods are going to 

 give him a "heap of trouble" if he 

 doesn't break them before they get too 

 dry, consequently he goes on as soon as 

 the surface looks good, and while he is 

 making two or three inches of the top 

 soil look good to the eye he is packing 

 a greater thickness just below this 

 layer by the horses' hoofs stamping the 

 air out of the ground and pressing the 

 soil so as to facilitate its natural 

 cementing quality, which takes place 

 before the plant roots have access to 

 it, or, perhaps, plants have not yet been 

 put out, which if out leaves the roots 

 to search around in the few inches of 

 mellow soil on top and when dry 

 weather sets in they find themselves 

 standing on the surface, which soon 

 dies out and they are done unless 

 favored by an early fall rain. 



If you will grow vegetables or even 

 many other crops you must have air, 

 together with moisture and fertility, 

 which means fine loose ground to a 

 great depth and planted immediately 

 after preparation so the little tender 

 roots can ramify downward and to the 

 greatest possible distance before the 

 soil settles and its particles begin to 

 adhere and obstruct their growth. 



Remember, if you keep moisture 

 without air your crop will be a failure, 



also unless you are growing swamp- 

 grass, nettles, skunk cabbage, or some- 

 thing that desires wet feet. 



The school of experience has charged 

 me a fair price for many of my experi- 

 ments on handling soil. I once had 

 about four acres of very rich soil, which 

 had been fall plowed. I wanted to 

 plant this field to cauliflower. I thought 

 that, by starting early and keeping it 

 mellow and fine on the surface, I would 

 retain much moisture as a store to 

 resist the dry weather period. Accord- 

 ingly I went over it with a four-horse 

 disc, cutting as deeply as possible- — 

 doing this in the latter part of April. 

 Although the surface was dry, the soil 

 clogged between the discs and I had to 

 frequently dig it out. I gave this field 

 about three discings, drag harrowing 

 and clod-mashing about thirty days 

 between each set of operations and had 

 a surface that would please the eye to 

 look upon, with an abundance of moist- 

 ure right up to the very top at planting 

 time, about July 1. I finished planting 

 in good shape and everything looked 

 promising until about the first of 

 August, when the plants came to a 

 standstill, and I discovered that the soil 

 would not hold moisture; it really had 

 no dust on the surface; it was just fine 

 and mealy. The plants were drying out 

 and I was powerless to help them. I 

 made a one-horse float, on which I 



