92 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 191 5 



A p(>ach tree in bloom on the ranch of Mr. T. W. 



Palmer, l<ake Hill, B.C. It bears a heavy crop 



of peaches (Alexander) every year. 



soil, but they are also very beneficial 

 when applied for mangels and corn and 

 when mixed with one-third to one-half 

 their weight of bone meal to increase the 

 proportion of phosphoric acid they great- 

 ly aid the growth of turnips. On muck 

 soil they are also invaluable, indeed, 

 there are few crops on light and gravelly 

 soils for which wood ashes cannot Ije 

 employed with profit. Five hundred 

 pounds of good wood ashes will carry a 

 little more potash than one hundred 

 fwunds of muriate of potash, about as 

 much phosphoric acid as fifty pounds of 

 bone meal, and Hme equal to at least 

 one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 

 air-slaked lime. 



6EAWBED 



Seaweed is u.sed as a fertilizer on both 

 the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It con- 

 tains from about three-quarters of one 

 per cent, to two per cent, of potash, de- 

 pending upon the variety of seaweed. In 

 ihe fresh state it cannot be used very 

 far from the seashore. If, however, it 

 could be dried and ground cheaply 

 enough it might- become a valuable 

 source of potash 



LIBERATORS OF POTASH 



The physiological functions of jx>tash 

 in the plant cannot be performed by any 

 other material, con,sequently there can be 

 no substitute for potash as a food for 

 plants. Certain materials, however, 

 tend to bring the inert stores of potash 



in the soil into available fornis and thus 

 act as indirect sources of this constituent. 

 The calcium or lime compoimds are the 

 most important in this respect, [-"resh 

 slaked lime is perhaps the most active, 

 but it aI.so cau.ses rapid decay of the 

 organic matter and should Ije used with 

 caution, esfjccially ufKJn sandy and 

 gravelly soils. Thoroughly air-slaked 

 lime and ground limestone rock are very 

 useful and safe forms of lime to use. 

 This form of lime does not unduly hasten 

 the decay of organic matter, and it p>er- 

 forms all the numerous beneficial func- 

 tions ascribed to lime in general. That 



is, it improves physical conditions of 

 lx>th sands and clays, it corrects sour- 

 ness or acidity in soils, and liberates pot- 

 ash, (iypsum, also a lime compound, 

 has all the.se useful fun<tions, excepting 

 only that it does not correct the sourness. 

 The presence of abundance of lime com- 

 pounds in soils is of great importance. 

 The shutting off of our supply of pot- 

 ash may be a blessing to us if it leads 

 us to make more economical use of our 

 natural supplies of this constituent, and 

 leads to better methods of cultivation in 

 order that we may make fuller use of the 

 vast supply in the most of our soils. 



Intercropping Young Orchards* 



A. H. MacLennan, Macdonald College, Que. 



BEFORE going into tlje details of in- 

 tcnrop(Mng the young orchard, I 

 wish it understood that I would not 

 crop close to the young trees. A strip at 

 least three feet wide on each side of the 

 row should be left free of the intercrop, 

 and each year as the tree grows this strip 

 should be widened. 



There are two types of orchard men : 

 First, the farmer who tills many acres 

 and adds the orchard as another source 

 of revenue, and second, the man who 

 tills but a few acres of land, most of 

 which will eventually be tearing. This 

 latter type is more frequently seen in On- 

 tario than in Quebec, but indications 

 point to its becoming more common in 

 certain sections of this province. 



The need of intercropping brings out 

 two points : The need of money and the 

 need of cultivation. Few of us can afford 

 to plant an orchard and wait without any 

 returns until our orchard begins to bear. 

 Any man is fortunate indeed who can 

 do so, but still we find that where we 

 can do this other things may arise, 

 which would cause us to forget cultiva- 

 tion. Cultivation is one thing in orchard 

 growing that cannot be neglected. We 

 must take a leaf out of the market gar- 

 dener's book, who has found that he 

 must till the soil if he wishes returns. An 

 orchard is a long period investment, 

 therefore, we can afford to take no 

 chances. Cultivate we must, and this 

 comes easier through intercropping be- 

 cause we get immediate returns. 



But before we get too deeply into 

 growing crops in the orchard we must 

 think of how we will dispose of them. 

 It is easy to raise most crops, but often 

 difficult to dispose of them. The owner 

 of a big farm, who rai.ses cattle or sells 

 milk, can raise crops with which to feed 

 these animals. But the man on the 

 smaller area must look abroad. His 

 market may be either the town or city 

 or the canning factories. Of these lat- 

 ter we do not find many here in Quebec, 



•Extract from an addrefle delivered at the laat 

 pTirti!)' convention of the Qnebeo Pomoloeical 

 Society. 



so that necessarily our market must Ix: 

 the town or city. 



There are certain characteristics of a 

 good intercrop which we must consider : 

 It must be profitable: It must need cul- 

 tivation : It should not be a crop which 

 requires stirring of the soil during the 

 months of August and September, as we 

 wish the young growth to be well hard- 

 ened before winter : It should have differ- 

 ent food requirements: It should have a 

 different season of growth. There is not 

 enough moisture in the spring for two 

 crops, so let the tree have the use of the 

 soil in spring : It is best to be an annua] 

 crop. 



Bearing these points in mind, I would 

 like to give a table of crops as they may 

 be placed in three groups — good, bad, 

 indifferent. 



Good — Beans, cabbage, tobacco, pota- 

 toes, onions, squash, tomatoes, corn, 

 buckwheat, carrots, peas, chickens. 



Bad — Raspberries, blackberries, hay, 

 grains. 



Indifferent — ■ Currants, gooseberries, 

 strawberries. 



The Preparation of the Tree-hole is 



an operation that must not be slighted, 

 as a good deal of the future success ol 

 the tree depends on this part of the 

 work. Plant holes are usually dug too 

 small. Roots are often cramped into too 

 small a space and find themselves placed 

 ag'ainst the hard sides of a lazy man's 

 hole. The hole should be dug large 

 enough to admit the entire root system 

 without cramping, with a sufficient mar- 

 gin to allow a comfortable amount of 

 loose soil for the roots to grow into. If 

 the soil is not of satisfactory composi- 

 tion, supply a better soil ; garden loam, 

 soil from an old pasture, or well decom- 

 posed humus from the swamp furnish 

 good material for filling in. Manure of 

 any kind is best kept away from the 

 roots; old, well-rotted manure can be 

 used as a mulch but green manure 

 should not be used. — C. F. Clark, Tor- 

 onto, Ont. 



