One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture AnsweredWickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Science
One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered
Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Agriculture -- California
Walnut trees will do well, providing you do not irrigate the alfalfa
sufficiently to waterlog the trees; providing also that you do use water
enough so that the trees will not be robbed of moisture by the alfalfa.
This method of growing trees will be, of course, safer and probably more
satisfactory if your soil is deep and loamy, as it should be to get the
best results with both alfalfa and walnuts. It would be better to have
the trees stand so that the water does not come into direct contact with
the bark, although walnut trees are irrigated by surrounding them with
check levees. Planting walnut trees in an old stand of alfalfa is harder
on the tree than to start alfalfa after the trees have taken hold,
because the alfalfa roots like to hang on to their advantage. In
planting in an old field, we should plow strips, say, five feet wide and
keep it cultivated rather than to try to start the trees in pot-holes,
although with extra care they might go that way.
Walnuts in the Hills.
Will walnuts grow well in the foothill country; elevation about 600
feet, soil rich, does not crack in summer and seems to have small stones
in it?
Walnuts will do well providing the soil or subsoil is retentive enough.
If you have water available for irrigation in case the trees should need
it, they would do well, but if the soil is gravelly way down and likely
to dry out deeply and you have no water available an opposite result
might be expected. It is a fact that on some of the uplands of the coast
mountains there is a lack of moisture late in the season which
interferes with the success of some fruit trees.
To Increase Bearing of Walnuts.
We have a walnut orchard which does not bear enough nuts. The trees are
all fine, even trees, 10 and 12 years old, and we are told that the crop
was light this year because the trees were growing so vigorously and put
most of their energy into the new wood. Is there any special fertilizer
which will make the trees bear more and not prompt such heavy growth?
If your adviser is right that the trees are not bearing because of
excessive growth, it would be better not to apply any fertilizer during
the coming year, but allow the trees to assume more steady habit and
possibly even to encourage them to do so by using less cultivation and
water. If you wish to experiment with some of the trees, give them an
application of five pounds of superphosphate and two pounds of potash to
each tree, properly distributed over the land which it occupies. You
certainly should not use any form of nitrogen.
Temperature and Moisture for the English Walnut.
What amount of freezing and drouth can English walnuts stand? Under what
conditions is irrigation necessary?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account