The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-03-04
FERTILIZATION Is
DISCUSSED AT LENGTH

UlNtuSSED Al LENulH
(This is the second Of three install
ments Of an address recently delivered
at Pine Grove by Gordon G. Brown.
The third will follow next week.
Now consider the use Of commercial
nitrogen from the standpoint Of the al
falfa OF other legume being used as a
shade crop. We have stated that We
put this crop in the orchard to gather
nitrogen from the air and fix i in
the soil by means of the bacteria work
ing uDon the nodules of the roots. Ev-
idence points strongly against its use
Prominent authorities claim that when
commercial nitrogen is applied, symbi-
Otic bacteria are not active. In other
words, nitrogen being already supplied,
they do not function actively in gather
ing more. Evidence points strongly
to the fact that weed growth and
mercial nitrogen. At the Southern
Oregon experiment station il was found
that nitrate of soda did not increase the
stand Of alfalfa over the unfertilized
block but that the increased tonnage
was caused by the great abundance of
needle grass which sprang up and flour
ished as a result of nitrogen.
At the Rothamstead experiment sta
tion in England it was found that
when experiments on the continuous
growth of clover were started IN lS49
the fret crops from the plats receiving
mineral manures but no nitrogen were
very much heavier than from the plats
receiving the same minerals plus nj
trogen.
At State College, Pennsylvania. the
use of nitrogen in every quantity and
form has stimulated the timothy at the
expense of the clover; the more nitro
gen used the greater the harm TO the
clover
DR.. Thrane, director of the expert
ment station at Wooster, Ohio, says:
"Our experiments have shown IN a
very striking way that where phosphor-
Gus and potassium are given in abund-
ance Dutnitrogen is omitted. the growth
of a mixture of clover and timothy
tends strongly to clover; but if nitro
gen IS supplied the timothy overtops
the clover"
In this case the reader will recognize
that clover or alfalfa may be consid-
cred as belonging to the same family
and function in the same manner so
that experiments applying to clover
will likewise apply to alfalfa. Fur
thermore. the relation of wild grasses
and sod in our alfalfa may be likened
to the presence of timothy OF other
grasses in the clover combination in
the experiments mentioned.
"A quotation from the director Of the
experiment station of Rothamstead,
Eng, states that on the plats receiving
commercial nitrogen the legumnous
plants have almost and in some cases
aotirely disappe ared whereas they have
Increased on the plats receiving only
mineral manures. He concludes by
| aging: Evidence is not lacking that
| tat any rate on many soils maDuring
with nitrogen has an actually harmful
effect on the growth of clover" Data
collected by that station show that
on plats receiving no fertilizer there
was only a Z. 5 per cent stand of clover
and 92.5 per cent of other grass where
acid phosphate and potash were ap
piled. 55.3 per cent clover was secured
and only 44.7 per cent other grasses.
However. where $50 pounds of nitrate
were added to the above fertilizers
the per cent of clover dropped back to
81 per cent.
Prof. J. S. Jones. chief, Dept. Agri.
| Chem, o. A. C., is quoted as follows
If alfalfa and red clover can be made
to grow as vigourosly as they appeared
to be growing when | visited your sec.
tion last summer (Hood River, 1879
| fail to see why those crops cannot be
made to bring to the soil and the de-
veloping fruit all the nitrogen that is
required. 1t is we'll established fact,
however, that symbolic bacteria of
the legumes do not function strongly
in the presence of large amounts of
added or accumulated nitrogen. So
well is this fact established that one
can safely say that the fertilization of
clover or alfalfa with nitrate of soda
will defeat the very purpose for which
those two crops are usually grown in
connection with soil Improvement.
We cannot overlook in passing the
matter of the direct influence of nitrate
of soda in the soil. The writer has no
direct evidence bearing upon this point.
but it is understood that continued use
of this fertilizer in California has had
marked influence upon the physical
condition of the soil. Reports from
Riverside are that the loose, omen tex
ture. associated with good tilth has
| oeen impaired or destroyed, in that the
soil particles run together easily and
cement. Furthermore, that there has
been marked accumulation of sodium
salts Of detrimental character.
What, then. must be our conclusion
from the evidence presented? Obvi
ously, We must view the orchard fertll-
ity problem from the standpoint of the
needs Of our leguminous shade crops as
we'll as from the standpoint of the tree.
We want to secure our nitrogen in the
cheapest form possible and evidently
that is by growing legumes. If, how
ever, by the use of commercial nitro
gen. bought at high price. we pre-
vent these crops from doing this in a
highly efficient manner, and at the
same time stimulate the growth of
grasses which gradually crowd out the
shade crop, are we not. therefore, de-
feating the very purpose for which
these. crops are seeded?
Other Aspects Of Orchard Fertility
1t has been pointed out that an apple