White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-08-02

fAS TIC OAS11cA I'D VI lAAS oSAAAS
Northwest have taken on age there
has ,been a noticeable decrease both
in the number of boxes produced
and in the size of the fruit. This
condition has caused orchardists to
inquire into the question of fertilizers
in an effort to determine what cnemi-
Gals, or combinations of chemicals,
would be necessary to add to the
soil to restore production.
1t appears that there has not been
great deal of experimental work
done along this line and depend
able information is not easy to pro-
cure.
At the recent Bozeman, Montana,
meeting of the Northwest horticul-
turists. F. L. Overly of the Wash
ington State College staff in charge
Of orchard experiment work in
Wenatchee read a paper on Orch
ard Fertilizers" prepared by himself
and DR.. ]. r. Magness. Below are
some of the high lights of this
paper:
One of the most important ques.-
tons in orchard management, and
one Of the most difficult upon
which to obtain dependable data,
is that of orchard fertilizers. Upon
certain phases all are agreed. No
one questions the fact that orch
ard trees require fairly large guam
titles of available nitrogen at GER
tain seasons of the year if optlmun
growth and maximum productlun are
to be secured. Even here, how
ever, the time of application, and,
particularly. the value of nid-sum-
mer applications, are very live
questions, at least in the state OF
Washington.
A few years ago horticnlturists
the country over were OF the
opinion that nitrogen was the only
element which was generally need
ed to be supplied to our orchards
in order to obtain maximum yields.
Gardner, Bradford and Hooker in
their book "Orchardizing," pub
lished as late as 1927, state, "for
all practical purposes the fertilizer
problem in fruit growing is nitro
gen problem" They probably in
tended the statement to apply only
to the United States, since in Eng
land the. value of potash on many
Of their svls deficient in this ele-
ment has been amply demon
strated.
1t is not the purpose of this
paper to discuss the need of nitro
gen in our orchards. In most parts
Of the United States, and particu-
larly III the Pacific Northwest,
where most Of the orchards are grown
ON reclaimed desert or. ssmi=dssert
soils, nitrogen must be applied. In
the young orchards with relatively
little shading, sufficient nitrogen can
generally be maintained through the
use of 1egume cover crops. In the
older, denser orchards maximum pro-
duction is usually obtained only when
the nitrogen supplied by legune
cover crops is supplemented by nj
trogen carrying fertilizers.
It is the intention Of this paper
to deal rather with the question Of
whether or not after the nitrogen need
is supplied, there is further benefit
to be gained from applying phosphor-
us and potassium, the so-called COM
plete fertilizer. In this connection,
thorough examination has been made
of the latest progress reports on OF
chard fertilizer tests through the
country, as shown in the directors
reports of number of the expert
ment stations. An attempt has been
made to make fairly complete sur
vey of the reports} Of stations where
complete fertilizer and nitrogen only
are being tried out side by side.
An impartial survey of the exper-
mental work under way over the
United States will indicate that in
many of the eastern orchard districts
complete fertilizers are showing
somewhat better results than is nj
trogen alone. This appears to be
generally true Of the orchards on
the poorer types OF soil. The deeper,
more fertile soil types such as are
found at the Ohio experiment. station
at Wooster, in New York State, and
at number of other points, gener-
ally have not given response to ap-
plication of fertilizer materials other
than nitrogen. Phosphorus generally
has been the most important fertilizer
following nitrogen in the United
States, with relatively few tests where
potash seems definitely to have estab
lished its value.
In the orchards of the Pacific
Northwest. we have soils varying
from gravel, which contains, very lit
tie fertility to deep loan or sand,
loan soils which are very high il
1 all plant foods except nitrogen. Mos