Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1909-03-20
THE GROWING OF FRUITS.
Instructive Article by Prof. Thornber
of State College

professor of horticulture in Washing
ton State College at Pullman, souun
of Spokane. Tho growing of fruits
in the semi-arid districts in the north
west as well as in other parts of the
United States and Canada is a phase
of horticulture which has received
little or no attention in the past, hence
it will be good news to many that by
system of careful cultivation and
rigid selection of varieties and care
in selection of trees and vines many
fruits can be grown in the dry dis
tricts. Professor Thornber Is argument
follows:
1t will be necessary to practice great
care in the conservation of moisture
to make it possible for tree to grow
and produce fruit in these sections.
This is to be considered as a most
important phase. We must make use
of all the moisture that falls, ana
make use of every practice that will
conserve this moisture.
A certain amount of well-rotted ma
nure added to the land viii help hold
the moisture much better than where
no manure is used Almost every
farmer and fruit grower is familiar
with the methods of tillage that con-
serve moisture. Deep, thorough tillage
in spring and constant shallow tillage
during the summer will do more to
make fruit grow in these dry sections
than any other phase of cultivation
Thus by the addition of well-rotted
manure, or the growing of cover
crops until the ground is in good con-
dition, and carefully conserving the
moisture that falls, or can be secured,
much fruit can be raised where none
has been raised in the past.
! Following closely upon the manage
ment and care of these fruit planta-
tions we must select such varieties of
fruits as will mature before the very
dry part of the summer comes on, or
4 such varieties as viii stand an un-
usual amount of drouth. This then
limits the number of varieties of ap-
plies to a few winter kinds The Rome
Beauty apple and WAGNER viii stano
more neglect and produce fair sized
fruit on dry land than any other va
riety that we have thus far tested
in our large experiment station or
. chard.
Varieties like the Winesap, the Vel
|, low NewtOwn, the Jonathan and the
Spitzenberg, while they do remark
ably well where the conditions are
favorable, fail almost absolutely Il
there is not sufficient water to supply
these later maturing fruits.
Under no circumstances should they
be used in the dryer sections unless
plenty Of water can be supplied. Il
person desires an early maturing
fruit. there is nothing better MOI
harder than the Yellow NewtOwn, o.
some of its close relatives.
Other varieties Of early maturing
' hardy fruit are the Duchess Of Old
enberg and the Glass Green. The Re,
} June, the Early Strawberry and
y number Of other apples Of this elias
Z should not be planted where there i
not plenty Of moisture, even thOuRl
they are early fruits, because the.
cannot stand excessive drOuth.
Besides apples, there are many othe
b varieties Of fruits that will do vel
;. If given excellent care ia the dry see
s tiOns. In the case OF peaches. n0thlnl
Do but the smaller fruits should be- 81
lected One Of the best early and on
Of the hardest peaches we have A. th
Alexander, or rs mate, the Amsde
june. These two peaches, as teste
? out al the station, are very YaiuaDl
p for the dry situation, or ~ place
where che conditions are uufayoraDb
81 for general peach culture.
Another fTulf that many people IA
d. surprised 81 tle way n Rr0Bf
TIC Glib apricot While this X no
large, yei n ~ very hardy even mue
lardior than tAe common Russian apr
cot and produces fairly large eros
'r ~ podium sized good irnii, even I
le tle dyer parts n tle northwest
III ffaIf. ~ a rulf. aIf n0i aaapif
n Az the 0ry secflonf, effu though fff
+, good culfure may le eIffp AZ iAon
Most saueiies of shfei elfUle pi
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