The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-02-26

much nitrogen IS brought 10 lie
soil through the agencies OF the sew
gral kinds az legumes. Conditions
il different sections OF the country
are so different that one would pref
Il nearly have 10 determine the a.
mount for each section IN question
and that is a long and difficult mat.
Tier. Suppose the symbolic bacteria
are functiOning strongly and the
crops OF alfalfa or clover are nor
removed from the soil that from =
10 159 pounds per acre may be al
ded annually. This latter amount is
tie equivalent Of that added BY 9Se
pounds OF nitrate of soda testing 10
per cent nitrogen or figuring 20
trees to the acre. 1873 pounds per
tree. an amount three or four times
that annually applied in the CONNER
cial form. We have already noted
that a crop OF apples weighing 24.50t
pounds or practically 500 boxes ne
acre requires 531 pounds nitrotet
an amount. practically speak Is
from one third to one half
which a good crop Of clover or
faIfa are capable Of furnishing.
yiously. the evidence in favor
heavy applications Of commercial
trogen where alfalfa er clover h
been growing a sufficient time
exert a strong influence is not
parent
Must Consider Orchard condtl
/ 1t viii be recalled that these
|ures are based upon the supposi
that hay crops be not reno
Growers as rule take az least 1u
cutting Of hay annually for feed
stock on the ranch and much
this is returned to the soil as \
ure II is also worthy of note tn
clover or alfalfa grown in the orch
lard do not make as vigorous 2
/ growth as in the open field. The a-
lvironment is not so congenial j
that it is shaded densely and cores
into competition with trees for mois
ture and plant food Furthermore
il is subjected TO much trampling
from heavy sprayers, horses, etc.
can scarcely be expected TO grow
or function as well under such C1n
ditions as in the open field Indeed
in many orchards its growth is
weak. the root system shallow end
the nodules few Consequently the
amount Of nitrogen which may be
brought to the soil by means OF le-
gumes depends largely upon the
vigOr with which a good stand may
be maintained II appears safe to
say. however, that even a poor stand
should be able to supply approx
mately all the nitrogen needed for
maximum apple production.
Maintaining The Stand.
/ This leads us then to the prob
lem OF maintaining a vigorous stand
OF alfalfa Often the crop is splen-
did for a year or so Gradually
however. it begins to run out.
Grasses and sod become more firm.
ly established until finally it is ad
visable to plow up the shade crop
and start over again after a year or
SO of clean cultivation This is not
to suggest that clean tillage in rO.
tation with alfalfa may not actually
be more efficacious than continued
alfalfa, but merely to point out tn,
difficulty the grower is up against
in keeping alfalfa clean and healthy
The point raised is that We want
to maintain our alfalfa in such an
active and healthy condition as to
furnish our soils with a sufficient
amount of nitrogen that it will not
be necessary to supplement the sup
ply from commercial sources. Oh
viously, therefore, soil practices
should, to a large extent depend up
on the requirements Of our shade
crop What are the requirements
OF alfalfa? We know that it requires
an abundance OF moisture and it is
inadvisable to seed ii unless this
factor is amply provided for. Fur
thermore, it responds literally to
cultivation and we always give this
matter some attention. EXP rimente
at the Southern Oregon EXperme m
station indicate clearly that land
plaster, superphosphate, iron sul Nh
ide, or flowers of sulphur and OF g.
fertilizers carrying sulphur have i'll
creased the yigor of this plant euor
mously Flowers of sulphur app cd
at the rate Of 80 pounds per arr
annually have given splendid res 4
under open field conditions in m n
parts of the state At Hood ri rel
this has also been true In the OF
chard. however. sulphur from 81 a'
material reaches this plant in or
siderable quantity so only eXI ".
mental evidence can determine yhc
ther this needs to be supplements,
further or not Alfalfa is also q
heavy user of calcium and in m m
places lime may have to be ad ed
Commercial Fertilizers
Let us return TO the question o
using commercial nitrogen in The
orchard where leguminous shadC
crons are employed We put nitrate
of soda and other nitrogenous ferti
lizer on in order to aid our trees
in setting and producing more fruit
Well and good Thus far our trees
have responded to two or three ap
plications of nitrate. In the mean
time alfalfa was seeded and wal
beginning to exert its beneficial in
fluence. It is to be recalled that thu
soils in these orchards were hadl!
depleted of nitrogen following Ions
continued clean cultivation. Tha
trees should respond so quickly wa
to be expected Alfalfa had not beef
established long and full benefit
from its use we're not to be expect
ed. From the standpoint of tn
tree the supplementary use OF com
mercial nitrogen to increase the sup
ply of nitrogen being fixed in tn
soil by alfalfa was profitable in tha
yields were greatly increased an,
larger sizes secured.
(To be continued