The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1911-11-16
MANY P0RTLANDERS
HEAR LAWRENCE

at was indeed gratifying, said
Professor w. K. Lawrence, the plant
pathologist of the Fellowship Associa-
tion. who delivered the initial address
of the series of lectures to be con-
Quoted by the Portland Y. M. c. A.
this winter to see so much of the aud
fence made up of the representative
business men of Portland. A great
many of them have investments in
orchard land. All are endeavoring 60
place the industry on the most scien-
tific basis.
Mr.. Lawrence discussed briefly the
success of the orchards of the Hood
River Valley. He outlined the history
of the origin of the Fellowship Associ-
alton and its purpose of making a
scientific study of the orchards in order
to prevent diseases and pests. In the
course of his remarks he related the
incidents of the battle with Winter
Kill and other important problems for
the bettering of orchard conditions
such as the plans of determining the
valleys thermo belts.
''One of the most successful things
already accomplished by the orchard
lists" he said, twas the eradication of
the dreaded Fire Blight. This was
accomplished by the d. termined efforts
of Prof Lawrence, &. X. Castner,
county fruit inspector, and assistants.
Zone of the problems that we are
at present engaged upon, said the
expert, ''is the drainage of certain
sections where water from irrigation
collects and is the cause of damage.
In his advice to fruit growers he
warned them to take especial care in
the selection of healthy nursery stock.
Care in this matter he said would often
prevent disease and secure an orchard
with sturdy. thrifty trees. The fol
lowing extracts are taken from a
report of Prof. Lawrence S address in
Sundays Oregonian
Cover crops are very beneficial,
horse beans and field peas being excel.
lent, and | now have lS2 varieties
under observation in different kinds OF
soil. These furnish both nitrogen and
oxygen as we'll as releasing the potash
that is in the soil, but should not inter.
fere with the regular cultivation OF
orchards. Muriate Of potash and sui
phate of potash are among the besi
salts to enrich the soil. but each sol
must be experimental with for itself
Many believe that chemical an
alysis of the soil should show what il
needs, but this is not so and only eX
perimenting with different fertilizers
will tell which is best. AS to the
amount of water needed it is known
that it takes 800 pounds of water tC
mature one pound of apples, so an
average tree bearing 1850 pounds OF
apples would require about 500, 00(
pounds of water. This shows that
even in the usually non irrigated dis
tricts some irrigation may be neces
sary to accomplish the pest results
but the richer the soil the less artifi
cial moisture will be needed. While
the codling moth is very destructive
and thousands of dollars are wasted il
spraying it at the wrong time, one
spraying during the time the hloomi
are dropping is generally sufficient.
At the conclusion of the lectur,
Professor Lawrence answered ques
tions for an hour on practical orehart
subjects.
The lecture next Saturday night will
be by z. j. O'Gara, of the Medfor,
Apple Growers Association, on "Fros
Prevention. y