In previous issues of the Youth Messenger, we presented information and inspired statements on the importance of agriculture, especially in the education of youth. Today’s young people are usually quite eager to learn the latest advances in computers and machinery—things which are indeed essential in the technological age in which we live. However, understanding the natural world is very important also. A well-rounded education must include agricultural study, both for purposes of survival on this planet and for spiritual growth. The cultivation of the soil is a wonderful science. In practicing it, we get a chance to physically enjoy the fruits of our labors. But more importantly, the practice of growing food and flowers also increases our faith. We gain an opportunity to observe and appreciate the goodness of God’s bounty, and learn about His ways.
Perhaps there are some fruit or nut trees in your yard or neighborhood that the owners may allow you to work with. Many times people assume that it’s no use to waste time with those old trees with a few pitiful, sickly fruits. You may still be surprised at the results that can often be achieved with just a little tender loving care. In both the northern and southern hemispheres, this month can be a good time to mulch those trees and try to revive them. The following material consists of excerpts from two articles by Herbert Clarence White, B.A., an organiculturist. Here is his experience:
Although the name was “Paradise,” the condition of the soil in that popular mountain resort was far removed from the ideal “Edenic” surroundings of our first parents. They were blessed with a 100% perfect soil; while in modern “Paradise” 6000 years later we had everything to fight—from hard, impervious clay underground to woolly aphids and the ubiquitous coddling moth above ground. To say the least, it presented a very real challenge.
When we took possession of our 12-year-old orchard, the trees were sick, the “tight” soil was sick, and our dwindling bank account was also sick. Our job was to reverse this rather drab and forlorn picture—and fast—if we planned to survive.
Having conducted successful experiments in mulching during our years at the Spanish American Institute in Gardena, California, we were convinced that mulching was the very best answer to our difficult problem of bringing back to our sick, half-dead, unproductive trees to a condition of health, vitality, and productivity at minimum cost, and in the shortest possible time.
From my brother Henry I had acquired a 2-ton Dodge panel truck, and with its help we began to collect leaves from the Chico city dump. Also, mountains of almond shells and hulls were available at the processing plants. Then we were told of a farmer over on the Sacramento River who had tons of spoiled alfalfa hay. A late spring rain shortly after baling the hay had resulted in a spoiled crop (from mold), and we were able to purchase the entire 40-acre crop (1200 bales) for only $5.00 per ton!
Here indeed was a “windfall” of the first magnitude—and for days on end we toiled, bringing up the bales of spoiled alfalfa hay to our little orchard on Paradise Heights, and distributing the contents under the trees to a depth of from three to four inches.
Soon strange and wonderful things began to happen in that hard, impacted soil. Before mulching, one could scarcely penetrate the clay under the trees with a garden trowel. Sixty days later—after mulching—we could dig down six inches or more into a soft, flaky top soil with our fingers!
No one could deny it. We were witnessing a miracle! By what power had this “miracle of nature” taken place? Had the minerals in the rich alfalfa hay produced some strange chemical action in that soil? No! The action was not “chemical”—but “biological.” The remarkable change in the soil structure under our mulched trees was due wholly to the powerful action of uncounted billions of soil bacteria, beneficial fungi, and earthworms. And these living, working soil organisms had been fed and housed by the deep, protective organic mulches.
Without the organic matter found in the mulches, the soil in that orchard had remained in a state closely resembling a cement block. It was now waking up and beginning to live. And after all, a truly fertile soil is a living soil. No type of fertilizer can act as an effective substitute for this all-important and vital life factor. It is also clear that these living, working organisms—like all other forms of life on our planet—must be fed. Without adequate food, these beneficial soil-builders will starve. Read this report from the Soil Conversation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
“The beneficial effects of organic matter on soil structure are largely due to its being a FOOD for soil organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and earthworms. Food provides energy for them, just as for humans. When there is enough food, the organisms prosper. They then bring about the various desirable changes in soil structure. They form humus.
“Organic material is the only source of energy-producing food for the structure-forming soil organisms. If the organic content is depleted, the organisms will starve. The soil will decline. There is no substitute for organic matter as food for soil organisms.”
When Anna and I took over the 10-acre Paradise apple and walnut orchard, most of the trees were sick. In fact, two-thirds of the terminal or fruit-bearing branches on the walnut trees were dead, and the annual growth of the “survivors” was not more than two or three inches.
For this story, let’s pick out one tree in the middle of our orchard as an example, and follow its progress through a 3-year period. The first season we applied a 2-inch almond-shell and almond-hull mulch around this 12-year-old walnut tree, spreading the mulch from the trunk out to the drip-line of the branches. It was a very simple procedure—nothing either difficult or complicated—yet a near miracle happened to that decadent tree.
Within the brief space of 90 days from the date of mulching, power began to surge into that tree. New life forces were in evidence in every leaf and twig—larger, darker, glossier leaves; and new terminal growth that would rejoice the heart of any lover of beautiful trees. Everywhere new, tender branches were pushing out from the limbs. These could be measured, not in inches, but in feet! In fact, many of the new, vigorous terminals measured three feet in length. And what was still more gratifying, bigger and better nuts in more abundant measure were developing all over that newly resurrected tree. . . .
And believe it or not, when harvest time came we gathered over 60 lbs. of saleable nuts from that one tree, as compared with an average of only four pounds the previous season—an increase of approximately 1500%. Fantastic, unbelievable; but nevertheless true! But that was only the beginning.
The following winter we gave the now famous “miracle tree” a second treatment. This time we applied 60 pounds of agricultural minerals, and over this light layer of rock phosphate and potassium-bearing granite dust we spread a 3-inch layer of alfalfa—requiring the use of 20 bales of spoiled hay. Result? New terminal growth the second season measure from four to six feet in length, bearing a crop of superior-quality walnuts weighing 120 pounds, thus doubling the previous season’s output. Of course, no controls in the form of dusts or sprays were used to keep away the ever-present coddling moth. However, not a single worm was found in any of the nuts from this tree. . . .
As we behold this power manifested in our gardens and orchards, as we witness these miracles of the natural world, we are led to exclaim with men of a former generation: “What hath God wrought?” In it all, and through it all, we see clearly the ineffaceable evidences of a Divine Hand. We are inspired to a more diligent study of the mysteries of nature, and are led into fresh channels that help us to think “God’s thoughts after Him.”
You, too, may have a tree or vine in your orchard or garden that is showing evidences of “decline.” You may see dead terminals everywhere, as we did on the walnut trees in our Paradise orchard. Why not set in motion that same “cycle of life” under your trees?
If almond shells are not available (and they probably are not), just try a modest application of compost, a few pounds of natural minerals, and a good three-inch hay or leaf mulch. Leaves are plentiful everywhere, especially in the autumn. They are especially rich in essential minerals.
If you will provide plenty of nourishing food for the soil organisms—the friendly aerobic bacteria, the fungi, and the earthworms—they will in turn “condition” your soil and enrich it. And perhaps the God of all nature will bless your simple efforts too!