242 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



and thereby extend the feeding area, es- 

 pecially in hard, impenetrable soil. 



3. It is a greater tonnage producer 

 under irrigation than the clover. 



My own experiences, while confined to 

 a few fields, have been very much in fa- 

 vor of clover so far as removing the 

 mulch and tree growth was concerned, 

 but favorable to alfalfa from the stand- 

 point of tonnage and subdividing and pre- 

 paring the soil for orchard purposes. I 

 would not seed alfalfa, or clover for that 

 matter, if I seeded at all, closer than 

 four feet from the young trees and then 

 preserve thorough tillage between the 

 alfalfa and the trees. As the trees grow 

 older I should extend the area of culti- 

 vation from one to two feet each year, 

 until the whole was receiving clean till- 

 age. 



Mulch Lessons From the Season of 

 1910 — Between April 1.5th and September 

 15th we had less than one-half an inch 

 of rainfall in Eastern Washington. The 

 weather otherwise, while dry, was not 

 seriously hot, and there were very few 

 strong winds. In the grass mulch experi- 

 ments we had a great number of the more 

 common varieties of apples. But inas- 

 much as the Ben Davis is probably bet- 

 ter known than any other variety I de- 

 sire to use it as an illustration. Kindly 

 remember that the soil was uniform and 

 that no irrigation was used. 



Plot 1 — Old alfalfa plot, 14-year-old 

 trees, fruit one inch in diameter, poorly 

 colored and badly wilted at harvesting 

 time. 



Plot 2 — Ben Davis variety, but in grass 

 and weed plot; fruit one and one-half 

 inches in diameter, of fair color, but 

 poorly developed; not wilted. 



Plot S — Ben Davis variety, old clover 

 field, trees 14 to 15 years of age, fruits 

 two inches in diameter, well colored, 

 fairly good texture and fair crop. 



Plot // — Ben Davis, 11-year-old trees, 

 given first-class care, clean tillage; fruit 

 three and one-half tier, well colored and 

 good texture. As good a crop as one 

 could desire. 



While this little experiment proves 

 much for Eastern Washington, it does not 

 settle the problem for other parts of the 



Northwest; yet it does show that where 

 summer moisture is the main factor, we 

 must practice, almost if not entirely, noth- 

 ing less than clean culture. 



After visiting hundreds of orchards last 

 year in Western Washington during the 

 dry season I am convinced that our prob- 

 lems of fruit culture are identical so far 

 as cultivation is concerned; yet there are 

 conditions under which it is advisable to 

 use a grass mulch of some sort or other, 

 and I would enumerate as possible con- 

 ditions the following: 



1. Where the soil is so rich as to cause 

 the trees to produce wood at the expense 

 of the fruit. Pears, cherries. 



2. Where the soil is otherwise too 

 wet. 



3. In loose, shifting soils that must 

 be held down to prevent blowing. 



4. On rocky soils that cannot be cul- 

 tivated. 



5. And finally when the owner is too 

 lazy to cultivate and wants a feasible 

 reason for not doing so. 



Absolutely Clean Tillacje — This is the 

 direct reaction of no tillage, and comes 

 as all reforms do at the swing of the pen- 

 dulum to the opposite pole. It is very 

 valuable in certain soils where everything 

 is sacrificed for moisture, but needs care- 

 ful guarding, as it is more liable to in- 

 jure the soil than any other method of 

 tillage. 



The constant working of the soil and 

 never permitting anything to grow upon 

 it. while valuable for the conservation 

 of moisture, materially fines it, thereby 

 making it wash and gully on sloping 

 land, and exposes a bare surface to the 

 hot summer sun. This destroys the 

 humus, causing the soil to cement and 

 puddle much more readily than it nor- 

 mally should. 



The loss of the organic content of soil 

 in four distinct ways, i. e. : 



1. Destroys granulation or friability. 



2. Lessens water holding capacity. 



3. Lowers the temperature in spring, 

 and raises it in the summer. 



4. Makes it impossible for the air to 

 permeate the soil, thereby hinders nitri- 

 fication and prevents the escape of car- 

 bon dioxide. 



