Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-07
Some Points About Fertiliz-
ers for Orange Trees.
What Citrus Trees Need in
Southern California.
Typical Facts Gathered About Semi
Tropic Farms.
Henry Leach on Manure for Orange
Trees-His Experience-A Ventura
Fruit Orchard.

The following article, written by
Henry Leach, for the Rural Californian,
contains many good points:
In the first place it is almost impossi-
BILE to advise any one how and what
kind of commercial fertilizers, quantity,
ETC., to use, as soils differ so much.
What would be great blessing
to some soils would be practically
useless on others. In Florida, where
had many years experience. the soil
is, as rule, so poor that after one finds
just what the whole orange tree is COM
posed of, the best way is to cultivate the
soil thoroughly and then pile on an
abundance of all the elements that the
orange tree is composed of. However,
in Southern California it is very differ
ent, the soil as rule, being very rich,
and cultivation is all that is required
till the tree is in bearing, say four boxes
or even more; then, as nitrogen is
the element that generally is first
and the ash and phosphates the
elements second to leave the soil,
naturally we look for relief by returning
these elements to the soil in reach OF
the tree feeders, which, if your grove is
properly cultivated, will be within a
few feet of the surface and the distance
from the bole of the tree due also to the
size of the tree.
Well-rotted stable manure strewn
broadcast and plowed in shallow, or
better still, narrowed in thoroughly,
contains nearly all the tree requires
When / say well-rotted manure, l
mean Just what l say, for most stable
manure is spoiled in the rotting pro-
cess gets "fired" and ruined except for
the humus or vegetable matter it still
contains. l rot large quantities of straw
and stable manure all the time by put
ting it in piles five feet high and ten feet
wide, every layer of which is tramped
solid and watered thoroughly with
hose As soon as one pile is finished to
the desired length or depth l throw
small bank of earth around itand soak
again we'll with water. l watch it
carefully and see that it does not get hot
enough to burn, which it will, say in two
weeks; if l did not give it soaking with
water, the heat generated by the am
monia and water would fairly cook the
straw In about five weeks | turn it in
side out, tramp. soak, etc., over again,
and in another five or ten weeks
from the start l have the best rotted
stable manure you ever saw, which
has not lost particle OF the plant
food elements-on the other hand have
turned straw, cornstalks and everything
into plant food shape, at very small
cost. have in this way made hun
dreds of cords of orange tree food out of
what many people burn.
II the trees are very large, and bearing
say from twelve to twentyiboxes each, the
f'pull' on the ash element is very great;
and in case OF this character, is good
plan to have your soil analyzed and learn
definitely what it requires. An eX
pert orange culturist can tell by the
look of your tree and fruit if they lack
ash, phosphate or nitrogen. However,
no general plan can be laid down for the
use of commercial manures. Where
they are not required their use is mere
waste of time and money. 1 will say,
though that few pounds of good
grade of nitrate of soda around each tree
(about six feet from a large tree)
will certainly do some good, as it
has a tendency to liberate dormant
plant food in the SOIL But the greatest
success with all manures i3 good, practi-
cal cultivation. At some future time |
will give the Rural my modus operandi
of cultivating an orange grove. In my
OplllIOu buoTo is Olly OHc way W uldhO d
good merchantable fruit; anyone can
grow scrubs $50 to 800 to the box.
EXTERMINATING THE GoPHERs.
A reader of the Colusa Sun says that
after experimenting for six years with
gopher exterminators, including smok-
ing machines, traps, cats and many
kinds OF poison, he has found the follow
ing mixture to be the most effective, as
well as the cheapest remedy he has ever
tried: Cut the top off five-gallon oil
can, clean thoroughly, put in little
cold water and insert a stick of
phosphorus. Hot (not boiling) water
is then gradually poured in and
stirred with a stick until the can
is half full. The water should be hot
enough to melt the PHOSPHORUS grad
ually. AS soon as this is done stir
briskly while two pounds of sugar are
added. Sufficient corn meal and flour
are then added to make thick batter.
Stirring is then continued, while the
wheat is added, making the mixture
as thick as can be stirred. Add at the
same time as the wheat fifteen or
twenty drops of oil of rhodium. The
water will be absorbed by the wheat,
which should be dry, and the whole will
a hickory nut are chopped off as desired,
and put in the main runs of the gophers.
The oder will attract the rodents for
long distance, and the least nibble is
sure death. The above quantity of
poison will be sufficient for large or
chard or whole neighborhood of small
gophers.
A VENTURA FRUIT ORCHARD.
Free Press: D. G. Cooks orchard
consists at present of 194l acres, divided
as follows: Apricot orchard, 400 acres,
of which 200 acres are in bearing; the
balance of the orchard will come into
bearing next season. They expect to
gather 200 to 250 tons this season. The
fig orchard has $50 acres, OF which 200
acres are now bearing. The varieties
are white Smyrna and white Adriatic.
Expect to gather 200 tons. Lemons and
oranges, 200 acres. Not producing.
Trees L, and years old. Olive orchard
(Picholine and Mission) 250 acres. Not
producing. Trees 3 years old. Peach
orchard, 80 acres. Not producing.
Trees but one year old. Prune orchard,
20 acres. Not producing. Orchard l
year old. Apple orchard, "a acres. Not
producing. Orchard 2 years old. Pom
egranates, 20 acres. Part of trees in