East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1911-03-11
WILLAMETTE VALLEY
INTENSIVE FARM METHODS
Says Prof Lewis of Oregon Agricui-
tural College in Recent Address ut
Eugene.

1.-The great need of the apple indus
try in the Willamette valley Is more
up to date and intensive methods"
said Prof. c.. 1. Lewis of the oregon
agricultural college department OF
horticulture in q recent address be-
fore the Lane County horticultural
society at the Eugene Y. NJ. c. A.
1--WE must use more care in the Sc
lection of our orchard Sites" he con-
tinued. Gently rolling locations that
have good air and soil drainage and
good depth of soil, preferable the
clay loam, should be selected. One
veal old trees should be insisted up
! on These should be headed low,
from IS to 20 inches, and an attempt
should be made to try not to have
the branches all grow out at nearly
the same point.
by careful summer watching the
first season we can develop much
better heads to u trees. We should
give the trees plenty of room to grow,
too. When they are on strong bottom
land, 80 to 80 feet will be needed for
proper planting, while hill lands will
stand closer planting. Deep and in
tensive cultivation should be practiced
and the young roots should be en-
couraged to strike deeper. Follow
this with frequent shallow soil cul-
tivation not over three inches in
depth, never allowing the ground to
become caked or to dry out. In the
young orchard cultivation should
cease about the first of August, so thai
the trees may harden properly so they
will not winter kill. Old, heavy
bearing orchards will need intensive
cultivation bate into September in
many cases.
Nearly all our older orchards and
many of the new orchards planted on
fallow wheat fields should be planted
to cover crops. About 40 pounds OF
oregon vetch and 10 or Is pounds OF
rye to the acre, drilled in at the frs,
of August, is very satisfactory in this
valley. This should be plowed III
der in the spring, at the time wher
we naturally pillow the orchard.
Must Prune Every Year.
Pruning must be followed annu'
= ally. severe heading in and thin
= ming out the first three years, fol
. lowed with light annual prunings il
: subsequent years, should be the rule
( About the third or fourth summer
J, light summer prunings from the frs
= to the fifteenth of July will aid IL
,, bringing the trees into bearing.
!. The hardest point for decision /
! that OF choice of the varieties t
t plant. one must simply choose from
{ among such leading varieties as Vel
1 low Newtown, Grimes Golden, John
athan. King of Tompkins County
n Gravenstein, Northern Spy and Spit
= Eenberger. Spitzenbergers shoui,
n only be planted in deep. rich, bu
not too heavy soils, with sun expos
n ure.
r Orchardists Are Poor Packers.
we need to nave better orchards
Y and much better methods Of handlin
: our crops. Very few men in the Wi
lamette valley can put up a CONNER
g cial box of apples. They shoul
either attend the apple packin
= school held each winter at the ayr
y cultural college, or apply for a pack
ing school in their community eac
r fall. These can be conducted in va
rious parts of the valley at a yer
small expense to each community.
Plenty of Cheap Lands to Buy.
:" "One great advantage in the Wi
J. lamette valley is it's abundance
cheap lands. One can, in many sec
= tons, bring apples into bearing at
total cost Of $3.50 an acre. That wi
= pay annually from 500 to 5000 a
{. acre, with proper methods Of hanC
}: ling. This makes a safe investmen
We need to encourage more peop
to come out and settle among US an
buy 80 or 40 acres Of fruit lands. TT
d 40 acre unit is the cheapest one
develop, as one man and a pair
1T horses can do the greater part of Il
work n it will not cost much mo
r. to develop 40 acres than ten. tt
n ten acre apple orchard, under ord
e. nary conditions, is too small. and
he not a safe investment for the averaI
Id man."