APPLES 
and harrowed in February, a granite loam, 
drilled in 100 pounds to the acre the Ist 
of March. Plants broke surface in three 
weeks, began to bloom in the middle of 
May and had ripened seed and were dying 
py July Ist. 
It is most important to inoculate the 
seed as the test plot represented a failure 
—plants pale, small leaved, 18 inches long, 
shed bloom. Inoculated plants luxuriant, 
dark green, five feet long in places and 
well fruited. 
Our season was wet and the orchard 
young, so plants were allowed to mature 
and harvested. Thrashed out 700 pounds 
of seed to acre and had a ton of straw, 
which made good horse feed for wintering. 
This crop could have been turned under 
the Ist of May when it averaged 30 inches 
in height. Volunteers followed this crop 
appearing mostly in late September and 
growing 12 inches. The severe winter 
killed all, and the native weeds, turnip 
and alfilarea also winter-killed. 
When planted in the fall and if rains 
come early one would have a good crop of 
vines to plow under even if it winter- 
killed. 
With irrigation it would be a splendid 
crop to sow in spring, then irrigate and 
plow under in May or June. 
Gro. B. DEAN 
INTERCROPPING 
There can be no objection to the grow- 
ing of crops between young trees and 
thus utilizing the land which is unoccu- 
pied and likely to remain so for several 
years provided care is taken not to crowd 
the trees and not injure them by culti- 
vating too closely and peeling the bark, 
and provided as much is put on the land 
in the form of fertilizers as is taken off 
by the crop. The average man will not 
do this, but will take off crop after crop 
and put little or nothing on in return; 
however, if he will make proper use of 
manure he can grow crops between his 
young trees, make a living off the crop 
and improve the soil at the same time. 
Cropping is not injurious to the land any 
more than milking is injurious to a cow, 
but to crop the soil without fertilizing it 
is like milking the cow without feeding 
255 
her. This process may be kept up for a 
while without visible exhaustion, for the 
Soil is a storehouse of plant food which 
has, in some cases, been hundreds of 
years in accumulating, but if it is kept 
up too long exhaustion is sure to follow. 
It must, therefore, be understod that if 
we are not to rob the soil of its produc- 
tivity and deprive the coming gener- 
ations of their right to a living from the 
land, we must conserve the fertility of 
the soil which they will in the future eul- 
tivate. 
Plan for Yakima Valley 
The following plan is suggested for 
North Yakima, Washington. It is subject 
to modification for varying conditions and 
with new information. 
First, we would plant apples as the 
permanent crop to live and to bear for 
one hundred years. This may seem a long 
time to expect trees to bear, but in New 
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New England 
and Canada there are bearing apple trees 
one hundred years old. It must be re- 
membered, too, that these trees have 
never been properly sprayed, cultivated 
or pruned. They have simply happened 
to be where the soil and moisture condi- 
tions are good. In a country where the 
soil is deep, where there is plenty of 
water, and where trees receive proper 
pruning and care, there is no question 
but that they will bear profitably for a 
long period of years. We would select 
winter apples because they will find a 
wide market. We would select three or 
four varieties to insure fertilization. 
We would, at this point (North Yaki- 
ma), select Spitzenburgs, Delicious, New- 
towns and Winesaps. At a higher alti- 
tude we would select Jonathans, Delicious 
and Rome Beauty. At a lower altitude 
we would select Winesaps, Newtowns and 
Arkansas Blacks. However, it is impos- 
sible to please others in selections, and 
with more information, we might change 
our own views. 
Distanees to Plant 
We would plant the apples two rods 
apart each way. This may seem like a 
waste of land, but remember that these 
trees are expected to stand a long time, 
