Page Six 



BETTER FRUIT 



June, 1922 



ing pressed firmly in the hand. Its fall- 

 ing apart indicates an insufficient quantity 

 of water present to hold the soil particles 

 together, which in turn indicates a scarcity 

 nearly critical to plant growth. Since trees 

 feed to a considerable depth, it is import- 

 ant to know that sufficient moisture is 

 present at all times to the full depth of 

 the roots. 



Frequency ok Application — The fre- 

 quency with which water should be applied 

 to a soil depends on the amount that it is 

 capable of storing, the extent of loss by 

 evaporation and the quantit}' used by the 

 crop. When the capacity of the soil to 

 retain the moisture is small, as it is in coarse 

 shallow areas, the length of time it can 

 maintain normal crop growth is proportion- 

 ately less than for a soil having greater 

 storage capacity. Orchards on coarse sandy 

 soils require irrigation at intervals of ten 

 to fifteen days during the active growing 

 season. Those on silt and clay loams usually 

 require two to four irrigations a year. 



One irrigation applied in May or June 

 might suffice on very retentive soils, but it 

 is better practice to irrigate oftener and 

 use less water at each irrigation. In this 

 way a more uniform moisture content of 

 the soil is maintained. Wiiere orchards are 

 found to require irrigation at intervals of 

 two, four or six weeks, it is reasonable to 

 expect that they would require irrigation at 

 approximately half this period when two 

 full crops are drawing from the supply. 

 This point is often not fully appreciated 

 by growers who place clover or alfalfa in 

 their orchards. 



AMOUNT OF Water— The proper 

 -'■ *- amount of water to apply depends upon 

 the capacity of the soil to absorb and retain 

 it. It is advisable to apply as much at each 

 irrigation as the soil, to the depth from 

 which the crops are capable of feeding wil' 

 hold without loss of drainage. This 

 quantity varies from approximately three 

 inches in depth of water on sandy soil to 

 eight or more inches for silt or clay. The 

 capacity of any soil of any type is influ- 

 enced by its depth. Therefore the amount 

 of water to apply must be determined by 

 experience for each tract of land. To apply 

 less water than the soil is capable of hold- 

 ing unless near the close of the season, is 

 inadvisable. By so doing more frequent 

 irrigation becomes necessary with a con- 

 sequent increase in labor cost and loss of 

 moisture by evaporation. On the other 

 hand care should be taken to avoid over- 

 irrigation. 



Experiments carried on by the irrigation 

 investigations of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture in a Southern California citrus 

 orchard, irrigated with furrows 660 feet 

 long, shows that at the upper end of the 

 furrows the water had percolated down to 

 a depth of 27 feet, while for the lower 

 half of the furrows the depth of percola- 

 tion was only about 4 feet. 



Irrigation investigations in Idaho showed 



that where the length of run was 23 59 

 feet, it required an average depth of flood- 

 ing of 1.6 feet for a satisfactory irrigation, 

 while with runs of 237 feet the average 

 depth of water for a thorough irrigation 

 was only 0.7 feet, or a saving of 56 per 

 cent. 



It is probably safe to assume that the loss 

 due to deep percolation will average no 

 less than 25 per cent of the water delivered 

 to the farm. 



To decrease the loss by Jeep percolation, 

 a remedy is to divide the field or orchard 

 into short runs, the length depending upon 

 the character of the soil, and to run the 

 water more quickly in the furrows or over 

 the field by using larger heads, especially 

 for porous soils. This will usually require 

 the practice of rotation at least for the 

 smaller farms or orchards, which has the 

 added advantage of decreasing the convey- 

 ance losses and of shortening the length of 

 time involved in apphing the water. 



Little need be said of the harmful ef- 

 fects of over-irrigation. Such a practice 

 results in waste of water, leaching, loss of 

 soil fertility, water-logging low lands and 

 smothering out vegetation. It also causes 

 a very undesirable physical condition of 

 the soil. Over-irrigation can be largely 

 avoided by careful management. 



Cherry Experiments 



'T'HK most extensive and important 

 •*- cherry pollination tests probably ever 

 undertaken have been under wav the past 

 few weeks in Wasco County orchards 

 around The Dalles. 



Under the direction of C. F.. Schuster of 

 Oregon Agricultural college the stamens of 

 450,000 cherry blossoms were removed and 

 the blossoms covered with paper bags, as the 

 first step in the experiment. All of these 

 blossoms are on trees of the Royal Anne, 

 Lambert and Ring varieties, which are both 

 sterile and intersterile. 



Pollen from all other known varieties 

 of sweet cherries, some sour cherries and 

 a few seedlings, was gathered by a corps of 

 women assistants for use in artificially im- 

 pregnating the emasculated blossoms. Each 

 was covered with the paper bag, follow- 

 ing this operation, and is allowed to re- 

 main that way until the fruit sets when it 

 will be possible to determine the percent- 

 age of fertility of each of the pollenizing 

 varieties, upon the sterile varieties. By 

 these records it is hoped defintely to settle 

 the question of the proper kinds of pollen- 

 izing trees to plant in orchards of Bing, 

 Royal Anne or Lambert cherries. 



Oregon walnut growers are seeking to 

 have congress make an appropriation of 

 $2,500 to enable the Department of Agri- 

 culture to send an expert to study walnut 

 growing in China and Manchuria. It is 

 said that 7,000,000 pounds of nuts were 

 imported through San Francisco, from those 

 countries last year. 



It is reported that the acreage of vege- 

 tables planted this season by members of' 

 the Eugene Fruit Growers' Association is 

 332, as compared with 100 acres last year. 



An experimental apple orchard of six 

 acres is being set out by the Washington 

 State College near Prosser, Wash. 



.Arrangements for trellising in this raspberry yard are goo.l enough but the owner has 

 neglected approved practices in not cutting out the old canes in the fall ami cutting 

 back the new ones. 



