The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1912-03-01
EXPERTS Give FARMERS GOOD ADVICE
Ranchers Urged to Raise More Alfalfa and
Convert 1t into Butter and Pork
Poultry Car Interests

eAy AANAAOSA VI VA1S V0AAOy .
farmer folk were in attendance at
the Farmers Institute conducted
M onday and Tuesday at the Com
mercial Hall by experts in fruit
growing, animal husbandry and
poultry from the Washington State
College in Pullman. During the
past two weeks Miss Lillian Blan-
chard, instructor in poultry, Prof.
0. M. Morris, orchardist and Prof.
w. L. Macdonald, livestock expert,
have been touring the Yakima Val,
ley and doing institute work in the
leading towns, Kennewick being
the last point to be visited. Prof.
Melander, who was to have discussed
the manufacture of lime sulphur
spray, was unable to be present.
At the Monday morning session,
Prof. Morris discussed orchard till
age from the two standpoints con-
sidered under this head-the i'm
provement of the soil and the in
crease of it's water-retaining capac-
tiles. He stated that, while the
soil of this section was highly fertile,
it was deficient in humus and that
vegetable matter should be turned
under to make the nitrogen in the
land available for plant food.
Plants must have nitrogen in order
to thrive and this is made acces-
sible by threeagents-wind, weather
and plant growth itself. In a brief
discussion of soils and the various
grades from clay to coarse sand he
said that the coarser the quality the
more difficult it was to make it hold
the water necessary to its proper ir-
rigation. For this reason sandy
soil should have especially careful
treatment by supplying fertilizer.
He called attention to peculiar
truth in soil science the sup
plying of humus to light soils makes
them heavier and to heavy soils
makes them lighter, the tendency
being to produce a normal and
healthy condition in either case.
The orchard produced under ideal
conditions should be planted in
land that has been titled from two
to five years and 80 made rich in
humus. In this way the trees make
a apid growth from the start, as
the land supplies all nutriment
needed in correct proportion. AL
falfa is a good crop to raise on viz
gin land when preparing it for an
orchard. The years spent in this
way are not lost as the trees make
a more rapid growth and will equal
the older trees planted in new soil
in short space of time.
While clean level tillage is a good
thing, according to Prof. Morris,
he believes in intercrops from an
economical standpoint and recon-
mends potatoes, cabbage ard toma-
toes.
The years program in care of
orchard land should consist of early
spring blowing, and the usual
methods of tillage during the sum-
mer months, followed by fertilizing
in the fall. A dust mulch of sew
eral inches should be maintained.
A three-inch tillage is considered
best as it gives adequate results for
the labor expended.
Cover crops, planted in mid-sum-
mer and plowed under the following
spring, make better orchards. For
annual crops, Prof. Morris has
found beans, peas, and vetch profit
able. For permanent cover crops,
alfalfa and clover are the standard,
and rye is fairly good. The rela-
tive value of clover and alfalfa must
be determined by local conditions.
If the alfalfa attains such a rank
growth that the crop is too dense to
be easily returned to the soil, and
is likely to be a persistent pest later,
then the clover should be resorted
to. 1t was maintained that cover