The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-02-10
EXPERT TELLSHOW
TO BUILD UP SOILS
Information OF Importance to Orch.
ardists Is Given In Lecture by
Roy Larsen.

Following is a summary of lecture OF
orchard soil fertility, delivered by Ro,
Larson, soil expert to Okanogan gorwers
! Soil fertility as influencing fruit pro
I duction and the quality of fruit produced
is very closely associated with a number
of otner important factors which have t.
do with the performance or functioninl
Of the tree. l have reference particu.
larry to the structure and spacing of trees
: which control largely the amount of sun
light permitted to reach the fruit and
} fruit spurs An abundance of sunligh,
is very essential for active fruit bud
; development and for the proper colorins
Of the fruit. Without sufficient sunlight
We cannot expect to get continuous heavy
production of high quality fruit nc
matter what the soil fertility may be
Active fruit buds. large sized and highly
colored apples are dependent largely upon
two very important factors and both are
absolutely essential. They are: % a good
fertile soil. sufficient to maintain ,hghly
vigorous trees though not overly vigor-
Gus. 90 An abundance Of direct sunligh,
permitted to reach the fruit and fruit
spurs.
The principal duty of IA fertile soil is
to establish the proper vigor in the tree
SO that 1t can function properly. tree
is really nothing more than a manufacture
Ing plant which consists of IA great many
units of production, these units being
the fruit spurs of the tree. The function
ing Of these Spurs depends largely upon
hxY nft loo,
the amount Of sunlight they receive.
| tree with proper vigor is one that
has an abundance of large, healthy. dark,
green leaves. good substantial terminal
wood growth and considerable lateral twig
growth each year. There is some danger
of establishing too much vigor in tree
by over fertilizing and growers should be
| cautious about this.
BY providing for the proper vigor in the
| tree with sufficient sunlight reaching the
| fruit spurs we can expect to get satisfact-
Dry production of quality fruit. Where
satisfactory results are not being obtained
| it is usually due to either lack of vigor
| in the tree or insufficient sunlight reach
ing the fruiting parts of the tree. The
vigor should be controlled largely by soil
improvement. The sunlight can be con-
trolled by type of pruning practiced and
spacing of trees in the orchard.
! "orchard Soil Improvement"
Soil fertility is dependent upon three
general practices. "a soil management,
(2) fertilization. (3) irrigation. They must
all be given proper attention in planning
any program of soil improvement tina. Is
both constructive and economical.
NI,1
fruit soils are nitrogen and organic
matter. Little attention need be given to
other plant food elements such as phos-
phorus. potassium, sulphur and lime The
use of nitrogen alone in the form of
concentrated fertilizer like suphate of
ammonia or nitrate of soda produces
quick results when properly applied but
should not be depended upon as a contin-
ued practice. We must provide for the or
ganic matter as well as the nitrogen If
we expect to make our soils highly pro-
ductTve. Organic matter furnishes fibre
to the soil and Is the basis for the bac-
terial life so important In making plant
food elements contained in the soil
available. Furthermore, organic matter is
necessary i'm establishing the proper soil
filth. Heavy silt soils lacking in organic
matter generally become more compact
and impervious to air and water under
n program of clean cultivation. With the
necessary organic matter in the soil this
tendency Is overcome and instead of this
compactness the soil becomes very loamy
and pliable With the sandy soils that are
lacking in organic matter we have poor
water holding capacity in the soil. The
soil may take water readily but does not
retain ii long. BY building up the organic
content of these soils we increase their
water holding capacity and in this way
greatly increase the duty of water Fur
thermore, a uniform moisture maintained
in the soil is very, desirable for the best
results in tree development and fruit pro-
duction and this is possible in the light,
shallow soils only when there is an abund-
ance of organic matter contained in them.
The most efficient program for supplying
both the nitrogen and organic matter
needed in our soils is by the growing of
legume cover crop in the orchard, such Az
| alfalfa or vetch. These legume cover crops
| have the power of taking free nitrogen
from the air through the action of GER
| tain bacteria on the roots. After the COW
| er crop has been well established and is
maintained in vigorous growing condition
the nitrogen needed is usually well taken
| care of. The organic content of fibre in
| the soil is gradually built up and the
| texture or physical condition of the soil
improved.
/ In addition to the growing of cover
| crops 1t Is often advisable to apply various
organic materials to the soil such as ma
| nure alfalfa hay, pea and bean straw. At
| the present time alfalfa hay Is not valued
| high for feeding purposes and can be
| applied to the soil for soil improvement
| to very good advantage. There is about
$3.50 worth of nitrogen alone in ton of
alfalfa hay besides the organic matter
that is so valuable in soil Improvement.
| These organic materials can be supplied
either as a surface application or in plow-
ed burrows or in pot holes depending on
! the nature of the soil where these ma
terlals are applied.
Cover Crops.
Alfalfa and vetch have proved the most
satisfactory for orchard cover crops and
of the two, alfalfa is usually preferred
for the permanent cover crop. Vetch can
often be used to an advantage as an mi
tial cover crop preceding alfalfa especially
in younger orchards and on the lighter
soils. However, on the heavier soils and
under shaded conditions vetch does not
do we'll and alfalfa should he seeded to
begin with.
It is usually advisable to fertilize with
sulphate of amonia and nitrate of soda
when starting the cover crop to provide
for immediate improvement In the trees
and to offset any check that might be
caused by seeding the cover crop. Manure
can be used to very good advantage for
it adds not only the nitrogen needed to
II Iaro1,,ato aricor In the trees hut sunplieS