The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1908-01-30
CASTNER SPEAKS
4. ,..' AT FRUIT MEETING

slnl ht.4 tifrt a..-f tf.t
@. r. Castner, fruit inspector for
Wasco county, was present at the an
nual meeting of the Marion County
Horticultural Association at Salem
Saturday and addressed the meeting.
! he Statesman says; "'e "
Much interest and good round OF
applause was manifested when the
chairman introduced Fruit Inspector
@. X Castner, OF Wasco county, the
home of the world famous Hood River
apples. Inasmuch as the progressive
fruitgrowers OF other vicinities are es-
pecially Interested In the Hood River
country, concerning its adaptability
for apple raising and the.phenomenal
success of the fruitgrowers OF that
county, Fruit Inspector Castner'1 re-
marks were eagerly listened to. After
complimenting the Marion county
fruit men on some OF their splendid
exhibits at the board Of trade looms
he took up In detail the growing OF
an orchard, starting with suggestion
for the location, proper soil and the
drainage thereof.
Gan land Is not adaptable to fruit
raising, he said, "and In the selec-
tion OF q site for an orchard the pros.
pective grower should consider the
drainage by all means. IL the land Is
not naturally drained 1t should be
tiled and the land should not be of
the subsoil variety. In Idaho" he
continued, "where there is large
amount of this subsoil, most benefit
Is derived from blasting, thus loosen.
ing up the earth sufficiently to allow
the roots of the trees plenty of room
In which TO spread out and secure
deeper footing. Where trees are
planted on this subsoil the roots, not
being able to penetrate the hard pan
soil, spread out foot or two under
the surface OF the ground and as a
consequence the trees are frail and
not apt to produce we'll.
"In the select ION OF rees the grow
or should choose the varieties which
he is certain will thrive 10 his vioin.
ity. I" Here the speaker mentioned
the "King OF Tomtkins county" and
the "Gravenstejn' and "Baldwin
varieties as being especially adapted
to Marion county. "rhe selection Of
trees should Ee made from the best
stock, the best being none too good, ;"
be continued. "There are too many
persons who,. in planting trees simply
stick the roots OF the tree In poorly
dug hole and cover them up In hap
hazard way and then leave the tree to
thrive as best II eau, without the nee
essary trimming. cultivation aud
spraying, later blaming the country
because they do not bear fruit In a
few years. T"
lie warned the prospective grower
against hairy and crown gall roots GU
young nursery stock and emphasized
the necessity of setting the trees at
least 30 feet apart aud Of cutting the
young trees down to thirty inches SO
as to cause the low formation OF
limbs, making picking In after years
much easier as we'll as causing earlier
bearing Mr.. Castner strongly dissp.
proved OF what he called the oareless
and promiscuous shearing of trees,
which method of so-called trimming
often proved fatal to no bearing qual-
tiles of the tree.
In speaking OF pollinization he
strongly recommended Gbees and said
that each orchard should be supple
mented with several hives & these
busy workers lie advised early cul
to tn, latter part OF July, He advised
thinning the fruit bearing buds to six
inches apart each season, never allcw-
ing more than one apple to the bud,
and when the crop has prospect OF
being large the buds should be thin
ned to eight inches apart, said he.
"ln picking the fruit should be
handled like eggs aud should be pick
ed at such time when greater major
ity of the fruit is suitable fol four
tier packing as apples OF this 1ize are
the most eagerly sought after in the
markets, and" be continued. "apples
should also be graded before packing
30 as to present heater appearance
In the box"
In Wasoo county," said Mr.. Cast.
ner, 1--WE spray once for San Jose
Gale, using the lime and sulphur So
luton, once for the scab, with the
bordeaux mixture, once for codling
moth, this latter spraying being the
most important and thorough, when
every limb and the body OF the tee
should be sprayed with pump under
l20 pounds pressure. Altogether we
spray apout i've times each h,seasop and
as result 80 per cent nj the Hood
River apples are free from worms
lie urged each grower to be sup
piled with hydrometer, to know the
exact strength Of his spray solution
at all times,
Mr.. Castner then nswered several
questions from the growers and was
again applauded as be took his scat.