Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Seventh Annual Meeting: Washington, D. C. September 8 and 9, 1916.
Science
Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Seventh Annual Meeting: Washington, D. C. September 8 and 9, 1916.
Northern Nut Growers Association -- Periodicals; Nut trees -- Periodicals; Nuts -- Periodicals
I know that any suggestions of the production of trees without plowing
is unorthodox, and therefore not likely to be heard straight, and
particularly perilous in the presence of professional horticulturists in
state or national employ. To such I wish to call attention to the fact
that I have emphasized in this matter, first, the tillage methods, and
that I am making no knock against cultivation. We all know that it works
under some conditions, and we all also know that there are some
conditions in which it will not work. If I lived on level, sandy loam,
I'd be a furious tiller of tree crops fifteen times a year. But I was
born upon a rocky hill, and now I live upon another that is higher and
rockier, and I don't believe in tilling it fifteen times a year. Must I
abandon it, or adopt uses to its conditions? Out of these conditions
mulch orcharding has come. Despite the orthodox, I know that the growing
of some kinds of fruit trees without cultivation has passed the
experimental stage. At this moment millions of barrels of apples are
approaching perfection in orchards in Virginia and other eastern states
that have not been plowed for more than one, and sometimes for more than
five seasons. The application of this method to nut trees is still in
the embryonic stage, with theoretic factors favoring it.
I do not know how far the mulch-fertilizer method can go, but I am sure
it may go much farther than most professional horticulturists will
admit. I find that the pecan tree starts off nicely under the mulch
fertilizer conditions of the apple. The walnut tree has certainly done
it for ages with less aid, and I believe it is up to us to find methods
of handling land and trees and moisture which will enable us to avoid
the danger, costs, and difficulties of plowing rough land and still get
good trees. For example, the absence of cultivation does not necessarily
imply the absence of fertilizer. The way a few black walnut trees in my
apple orchard have snapped their buds and grown in response to the
nitrate of soda that has been put upon the apple trees beside has been
little short of astounding. The way a poor little starveling persimmon
wakes up when the same treatment comes along, is equally interesting. I
cannot speak definitely yet about the influence of fertilizer on the
Persian walnut or the pecan.
In connection with the fertilization matter, it is well known that a
crop of clover or other legumes is very important as a part of the
rotation of crops in plow agriculture. Similarly I expect great value
can be obtained in our pastured and fertilized nut orchards if we so
treat the soil with lime, phosphorous, and whatever else is needed, to
give a good mat of white clover and other legumes which are undoubtedly
a good nitrogen supply for trees whose roots interlace with theirs.
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