December, 1921 



THE importance of vitality and vigor in 

 a tree in withstanding frost damage 

 was strikingly illustrated in several orchards. 

 In February we were inclined to think that 

 the old neglected trees, those that had not 

 been making a vigorous growth, were in- 

 jured the least, but this good showing did 

 not extend through until July. The weak 

 trees may have been more completely dor- 

 mant at the time of the freeze and may 

 have been injured less, but if so they did 

 not have the ability to recover while 

 the more vigorous trees did. In February 

 we visited the orchard of Frank Hrubetz, 

 south of Salem and found striking dif- 

 ferences in the amount of injury in dif- 

 ferent parts of the orchard. The orchard 

 consists of 20 to 25-year-old Italian prunes 

 and a number of old pear and other trees. 

 Part of it had never been fertilized, and 

 this section showed much injury in the tops 

 of the trees, branches frozen through and 

 dead in the crotches, especially at the base 

 of the old pendant fruit spurs on the 

 prunes. Another part was treated with two 

 pounds of nitrate of soda per tree in the 

 spring of 1918. The injury was markedly 

 less in this section. 



Still another section had been treated 

 for two years with nitrate of soda and here 

 there was no injury at all in the tops. The 

 prune orchard of L. T. Reynolds, 

 north of Salem showed the same thing, 

 much less injury on trees that had received 

 nitrogenous fertilizer, while many trees 

 that had not been fertilized failed to sur- 

 vive. We carried on some spraying ex- 

 periments in the latter orchard in 1919 and 

 during the course of this work a number of 

 the trees lost a considerable amount of their 

 foliage as a result of spray injury. The 

 winter injury on these trees located in the 

 unfertilized section of the orchard was 

 most severe and many of them have died. 

 In the fertilized section these trees showed 

 damage, hut survived. 



This freeze demonstrated some valuable 

 lessons, one of the chief of which is the 

 remarkable recuperative power of frost in- 

 jured trees, and in this connection we prob- 

 ably shall have to concede the honors to the 

 Italian prune. But among all fruits and 

 nuts we saw demonstrated their comparative 

 hardiness, and so we may therefore choose 

 for our future plantings such varieties as 

 are most likely to withstand the next "test 

 winter." 



I want strongly to urge that growers of 

 the Northwest coast country study each 

 other's experiences growing out of the 

 freeze, so that they will be better prepared 

 for the next test winter. We use Nature 

 ill if we do not use her to best advantage. 

 So for further plantings let us choose the 

 site intelligently with a view of all pos- 

 sibilities; let us grow varieties of proved 

 hardiness as well as of proved worth other- 

 wise ; and then let us care for the trees, 

 not as a crop of potatoes to be dug in the 

 fall, but as a trust that we may leave when 

 we are gone. 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 19 



Plenty of Potash 



After all the years of 



Potash Hunger 



the opportunity has come to buy 



Potash at very low prices 



IN order to take advantage of these 

 low prices no time should be lost 

 in telling* your dealer what you will 

 require so that there will be plenty of 

 time to import the Potash. 



The right kind ar.d amount of fertil- 

 izer is a great help in reducing the 

 cost of crop production. 



A fertilizer high in Potash, 4 to 10 per 

 cent, improves both the quantity and 

 quality of all crops. 



Great quantities of Potash have been 

 removed from the soil in the past six 

 years. Now is the time to restore it 

 at small cost. 



SOIL & CROP SERVICE, POTASH SYNDICATE 



H. A. HUSTON. Manager 



42 Broadway New York 



POTASH 

 PAYS 



