Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



September, 1021 



turned to the tractor. It has been found in 

 certain cases that one tractor, intelligently 

 operated, dispenses with the services of sev- 

 eral men. Actual accomplishment per- 

 suaded the orchardists that their salvation 

 lay in the direction of tractor power and 

 it has been almost universally adopted. 



One of the pioneers in the use of trac- 

 tors has been the J. C. Forkner Fig Gar- 

 dens, the largest fig orchard in the world 

 which is just coming into bearing. It is a 

 12,000 acres tract situated just outside of 

 the city limits of Fresno and is cue of the 

 show places of California. 



One of the secrets of tlie Forkner Fig 

 Gardens has been tractor cultivation. It is 

 evident that a 12,000 acre tract would re- 

 quire an army of men to care for it and 

 give it the intensive cultivation that has 

 been adopted as the best means of produc- 

 ing quality figs. Their system of culture 

 calls for irrigation in mid-winter when the 

 rainy season is at its height and through 

 this aid to nature, the ground is saturated 

 with moisture. As spring comes along and 

 it becomes possible to turn the tractors 

 upon the land, the battery of power culti- 

 vators is released and all during the hot 

 summer months, the orchards are disced 

 and cross disced giving the underlying soils 

 the uniformity of moisture sought. 



'T'HIS year a battery of 87 tractors is em- 

 -'- ployed which gives each tractor about 

 125 acres to care for. The trees are so 

 pruned that a tractor with its disc cultiva- 

 tors can cover the orchard up to within a 

 few inches of each tree and a foot or so 

 about the base of the trunk is the only 

 section of the orchard requiring hand cul- 

 tivation. 



It is believed that the employment of 

 tractors on a large scale by the J. C. Fork- 

 ner Fig Gardens will establish a new idea 

 in the use of farm power in many sections. 

 There are several hundred individual own- 

 ers within the confines of the tract, but all 

 the work of cultivation and care is done by 

 this main organization, under contract to 

 individuals. In some cases they are resident 

 owners who are employed by what m.ay be 

 well termed an orcharding corporation, in 

 other cases ihey are city dwellers raising 

 figs as a hobby or investment. 



The fig was one of the first fruits intro- 

 duced into America, being brought by the 

 Franciscan padres through Mexico in the 

 17th century. It was then established that 

 the fig would thrive in California. It was 

 not until the last ten years, however, that 

 tors has been the J. C. Forkner Fig G.ir- 

 mercially profitable. 



A great measure of its obscurity no doubt 

 was due to the lack of intensive cultivation. 

 The era of the tractor made intensive cul- 

 tivation possible and the fig has gone for- 

 ward by leaps and bounds. It solved the 

 secret of the quality fig and this quality is 

 winning recognition. It is through the 

 "quality fig" that California hopes to win 



the markets of the world and it is through 

 greatly improved cultivation made possible 

 by tractor power that the orchardist has 

 been able to bring the fruit to its present 

 iiigh standard. 



LAST fall the fig growers affiliated with 

 the peach men in an association known 

 as the California Peach & Fig Growers with 

 8,000 members. The association will take 

 the marketing cares off the shoulders of the 

 growers leaving them free to devote their 

 energies to improving their product. 



One of the first institutions of co-opera- 

 tive endeavor to be established was a "grow- 

 ers' school." The orchardists traveled over 

 the fig belt studying methods of culture 

 employed in both successful and un un- 

 successful orchards. At the J. C. Forkner 

 Fig Gardens several hours were spent watch- 

 ing demonstrations of cultivation methods, 

 a feature of which was the performance of 

 the tractor battery. Those that marveled 

 at the growth and appearance of the mam- 

 moth acreage were initiated into the secret 

 of tractor cultivation and the efficiency and 

 economy of the operation which is making 

 this modern "Garden of Eden" a success. 



Fire Blight 



REPORTS from various sections in the 

 Northwest to the effect that fire blight 

 is spreading make it necessary to exercise the 

 utmost vigilance to detect it in its first 

 stages and then to use the most efficient and 

 drastic methods to eradicate it. Owing to 

 the rapidity with which this most dis- 

 astrous of tree diseases gains a foothold and 

 progresses, growers should become informed 

 of its advance symptoms and be on the alert 

 against it. 



In describing the presence of fire blight 

 H. P. Barss, professor of the department of 

 botany and plant pathology of the Oregon 

 Agricultural College, says that it is first 

 noticed by a wilting of the blossoms and 

 leaves on the fruit spurs or the young 

 shoots. Drying up of the branch and foliage 

 soon follows this action. Later the infected 

 parts become black or brownish, giving the 

 appearance of having been scorched by fire 

 — hence the name fire blight. 



As the disease progresses it often runs 

 down from the tender growth's to the larger 

 branches, main limbs and trunks of the 

 trees and into the root system. The bac- 

 teria also often enters the roots from the 

 suckers. The final result of the blight is 

 to girdle the part attacked. In fact, so 

 destructive is this disease to an orchard, if 

 not checked, that within three or four 

 years from its first appearance, in the 

 severest cases, the trees have to be removed. 

 Pear trees are particularly susceptible to 

 fire blight and some varieties of apple trees 

 more so than others. The Spitzenburg, for 

 instance, has been found to be highly sus- 

 ceptible while other varieties, notably the 

 Newtown, are more resistant. Growing sea- 

 sons when moist, warm weather prevails 



are favorable to the infection and spread of 

 fire blight. 



Many remedies have been tried for eradi- 

 acting this disease, but once it has gained a 

 strong foothold, the only method that has 

 been successful is that of cutting it out. As 

 a preventive in its incipient stages some de- 

 gree of success has been attained by the use 

 of special sprays for this purpose. 



TN CUTTING out fire blight all the 

 -*■ aflfected parts should be removed and 

 also some of the area around the infection. 

 The work above ground should be followed 

 by a careful inspection below the surface. 

 This should be done by digging the dirt 

 away from the b.ise of the trunk of the 

 tree to determine if blight discoloration is 

 present. If it is the cutting out process 

 should be applied to the base and roots of 

 the tree as carefully as the portion above 

 ground. As the disease is highly infectious 

 the wounds made in cutting should be dis- 

 infected with a solution consisting of one 

 gram of cyanide of mercury and one gram 

 of bichloride of mercury to 500cc of water, 

 while all tools used in cutting or pruning 

 trees affected with fire blight should also 

 be disinfected. 



The orchardist whose trees mav be sub- 

 jected to an attack of this disease will be 

 well repaid by scrutinizing them frequently 

 and carefully and applying remedial meth- 

 ods at once if they become infected. 



Must Remove Spray 



OHIPPERS and growers of fruit in the 

 ^ Northwest who do not want to take 

 a chance on having their fruit condemned 

 will remove spray residue. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture has is- 

 sued a ruling to the effect that fruit hav- 

 ing spray on it will be condemned. The 

 ruling was made after fruit growers at 

 Med ford had complained to the depart- 

 ment that a federal inspector was working 

 a great hardship on Southern Oregon grow- 

 ers by requiring them to remove the spray. 

 When complaint was presented to the de- 

 partment the action of the inspector was 

 upheld and fruit shippers and growers 

 w.irned that the spray must be removed. 



Oregon's apple crop this year is estimated 

 by F.-L. Kent of the Bureau of Crop Esti- 

 mates to be 5,139 cars. The 1921 pear 

 crop of the state is placed at 8,000 tons and 

 the prune crop at 21,610,000 pounds. 



Thank You! 



"/ could not ajford to do without 

 Better Fruit any more than I could 

 do without my sfrayer. They are 

 both specialists in their respective 

 callings." 



— Excerpt from letter of J. R. Allen, 

 Nepfel, Wash. 



