Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-07-08
YOUNG TREES
SHOW RESULT
Deep TILLACE
Cover Crop Aids In
Adding Humus To
Heavy Soil on Big
Fruit Development

The benefits of deep tillage and the
growing Of cover crops are daily be-
coming more apparent on the 400
acre citrus fruit project of the Rio
Grande Farms, Inc, two miles south
east of Brownsville, where. through
modern methods Of tillage, the heavy
soil is being given an ample supply Of
humus and thrifty fruit trees have
replaced the poor cotton crops of
former years.
A dense mat Of corn grass, careless
weed and other growths is now being
turned under with special owe discs,
adding the needed humus TO the soil.
Following the turning under Of the
crop the land will be chiseled
to a depth of 10 TO - inches, follow
ed by deep tilling to a depth of p
inches. This is expected to leave it
in prime conditions for the fall rains.
! The cover crop is being turned under
I after seeding in order to assure an
other heavy crop in the fall.
The trees are among the most
thrifty young stock in the Valley;
have never been irrigated, but the
deep titled soil is moist to a depth of
3 or 4 feet, having retained all the
moisture received during the spring
rains.
New Workers "S~candalized"
A party Of New Porkers, owner of
acreages on the development, ex-
pressed themselves as "scandalized'
when they arrived last week and
found their land covered with grass
and weeds, in many places higher
than the trees.
do you call that taking care Of
citrus fruit orchard?" one Of the
owners asked the manager Of the de-
/ velopment. Back in New York we
would call that nothing but a weed
patch"
The fact was explained to him that
practically all Valley soil needs
humus. and that the best way to
/ place ii in the soil is through the
| growing Of cover crops which are
turned under after they have seeded
to insure the growth Of a second
Y crop.
do you see that big patch OF
| careless weeds ?" the manager said,
He pointed to several acres where
the weeds were five or six feet high,
and from the highway the tops Of no
fruit trees we're visible.
Il consider that the best part Of
this acreage. When every acre grows
careless weed to that height / will
know that the soil is in prime condi-
ton. Ten days from nov every one
Of those weeds will be worked into
the soil, and they will add thousands
of dollars to the production of that
acreage. There are types Of soil that
demand clean cultivation, but not
- - ---wI E Aknnz
careless weeds and the dense growth
Of corr grass on other acreages as
am OF the thriftiness of the trees"
The New Workers were Modified 70
some extent, but not entirely. They
could not fully grasp the idea that a
weed NAV have some virtue and that
a big crop OF the "noxious" weeds
and grasses is highly beneficial to
some types of soil.
"if you will come back after these
weeds and grass have seeded ! will
show you perfectly clean orchards,
the manager said; "but they will not
be clean very long. ! am going "a
do all | n 70 cultivate those weeds.
| The thicker and higher they grow the
better | will like it,. After the fall
rains I expect to raise a weed crop
that will break all American records
The soil is very fertile, and the fast
er / can get the humus in it the bet
ter il will be for the fruit trees
The effects Of the deep tilling are
very apparent. At one point where
the land has been deep titled twice
70 a depth of % inches the mat OF
weeds and grass is 4 to 5 feet in
height or almost double the height OF
the growth on adjoining land which
had been deep titled once.
Lower Valley citrus growers are
watching the development Of the 400
acre tract with considerable interest
The land was never considered the
best type for citrus culture under or
binary tillage methods. but through
the medium of deep tillage and the
growing of cover crops it is being de-
veloped into one Of the most thrifty