The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-01-15
Pruning and Fertilizing Suggestions
BY Gordon G.. Brown

by Gordon &. Brownl
There are two factors relating to
orchard management which the writer
wishes to touch upon in this short
article. Pruning is one fertilization
is another. First, regards pruning
Let US first consider young trees which
were badly injured by the freeze. ThG
writer believes it best for the grower
not to prune these until winter is defin
itely over and no further danger o.,
hard freezes is probable.
Considerable evaporation takes place
from the cut surfaces which can, to a
large extent, be curtailed by leaving
the tree alone. The grower will readl-
ly recognize that the cut surfaces OF
injured wood will more readily dry out
and die back than is true of healthy
tissue. because of the formers inabil
ity to supply the moisture as fast as it
is carried away. In some cases be
lieve it well for the grower to wait I.
few days after the growing seasoll
starts before pruning as then one.wiil
have more definite idea whether in
jured wood is going to grow or not,
However, if growth does not star |
promptly within week or ten days
after the normal season. pruning
should be done promptly. Trees which
have been injured quite badly should
be pruned heavily. the idea being t.
concentrate the sap to smaller ares
and thus strengthen those parts. This
will apply equally to trees in bearing
or not IN bearing.
Regarding the pruning of trees in
bearing. particularly those II years of
age and older. Most orchards gave a
bumper crop in 1919 and cannot be ex-
pected to bear heavily this year. Now.
the writer wishes to caution the grow
er against excessive pruning this win
ter. He should keep in mind that &c
do 30 will tend to cause trees to make
excessive wood growth, possibly to the
detriment Of fruit bud formation. Al
rule it is generally advisable tc
prune heavily before year during
which heavy crop is expected. This
has been considered safer since the
crop is able to take up the excess sat
and incidentally fruit setting is better
believe this safe rule to follow nov
that trees in the valley are on an aver
age, quite vigorous.
Regarding the use of nitrate Of soda
The results from the use of this fertil
izer in many respects closely cores
ponds with those following heavy prun
ing. Don't make the mistake of prun
ing heavily and fert,lizing heavily thi,
spring if you expect light crop thii
year. The writer understands tht
amount Of nitrate ordered for this yea
exceeds that of any former year. H,
fails to understand just how all of thi
is going to be used to advantage. Las
summer was the time when your tree
set fruit buds or leaf buds for thi'
year and no amount of nitrate or an,
other fertilizer can change this. You
trees are going to bloom or not bloom
this year and that point was defnteE
fixed last year.
In the case Of orchards where ther,
is tendency for trees to bear approx
mately the same amount of fruit eacl
year light application of possibly tw,
pounds per tree annually is probabl,
justified under present conditions, bu
where growers make it practice o
putting on as much as four and iv,
pounds annually as some have bee
doing, the ultimate benefits of such
practice are questionable.
1t is understood that the keeping
quality Of Spitzenburgs has not beer
up to standard this past year. Shoul,
this continue to be so the grower cal
readily see what influence this is goiny
to exert upon the buyer and prices.
prominent selling agent recently state
in emphatic terms that this factor j
already hurting the market for th
variety. The decline in keeping quail
ty can be obviously traced to excesse
in orchard practice. Rapid growth
induced by heavy pruning, fertilization
and possibly irrigation. has been &C
companied not only by poor color, bu
loss in keeping quality.
In the case of orchards where tn
tendency has been for trees to produc,
heavy and light crops alternately, re
suits do not encourage heavy annua
applications Of nitrate of soda. Fo
instance, the writer applied three pound
Of nitrate to trees which bore q yer
light crop that year. The following
year, during which very heavy GRO
was borne. another thI ee-pound appli
cation was made. These trees did no
produce larger crop or larger size,
fruit than did similar block Of tree
which received but one three. pound az
plication during the spring Of the sec
ond year.
The aim of this article is to cautio
the grower against extremes. H
went to one extreme few years az
in clean cultivation; possibly the US
Of nitrate may prove another extreme
He should remember that the cond
tions which called for heavy applics
tions of fertilizer four and FIVE year
ago do not exist today. The soil
full of humus and irrigation is NOR
available than then. The deplete
condition of the trees then existing hs
been long since overcome. lncidenta
ly, it appears that the grower mus
plan to do more cultivating than ha
been generally true during the pas
few years.
The older orchards Of the valley hav
experienced wonderful improvement
in productivity during the past fou
years which may be roughly estimate
at between 40 and SO per cent. Tt
writer believes that this increase
but normal expression of the natur,
bearing capacity of trees, but thel
Il are many evidences Of overstimulatic
i and it is for the benefit of such i,
stances that this article II written.