The Kerens Tribune (Kerens, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 08, Ed. 1 Friday, February 21, 2014 Page: 4 of 10
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Page 4* The Kerens Tribune* February 21,2014
KTEDITOR07@YAHOO.COM
News
Ag Update
Manage muddy water; prune fruit trees and question of the week
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By Rick Hirsch
Henderson County
Extension Agent
ATHENS-Muddy wa-
ter is a problem in East
Texas ponds because it in-
hibits the growth of natu-
ral fish foods, is not aes-
thetically pleasing, re-
duces visibility limiting
sight-feeding predators,
such as large mouth bass,
to feed on forage popula-
tions effectively
The first step in clearing
ponds is to inspect the
watershed and shoreline
for signs of erosion. Grass
sod should be established
on bare areas. Rocks or
other rip-rap material
should be placed on
shorelines of larger ponds
if eroded by wave action.
Many ponds become
temporarily muddy follow-
ing heavy rains, but clear-
ing usually occurs in a few
days. Abundant bullhead
catfish and/or common
carp populations may also
cause muddy conditions
and should be eliminated.
If heavy rainfall or unde-
sirable fish are not causing
muddy conditions, the
cause is negatively charged
clay particles causing co-
agulation and precipitation
of clay particles.
A good compound rec-
ommended for clearing
ponds is agricultural lime-
stone.
Early spring is a good
time to start a management
program for ponds and
small lakes. If managed
correctly, these bodies of
water can be a source of
recreation and food for
your family.
Liming is a critical step
that is often overlooked by
landowners. Just like pas-
tures, ponds have an opti-
mum pH level that en-
hances fish growth by
keeping the food chain in
balance. When pH dips
below 20 parts per million,
it is time to lime. Ponds in
East Texas should be
tested just like you test a
hay meadow. It is very im-
portant to test before you
begin a stocking program.
Late winter to early
spring is the best time to
lime a pond. The
Henderson County Exten-
sion Office can analyze the
alkalinity and pH of pond
water. Call ahead for
available days and time
before dropping it off.
Agricultural limestone
just like is used in pastures
and hay fields is an ad-
equate material for cor-
recting water pH. Do not
use hydrated lime as it can
change the pH too quickly
and cause a fish kill.
Prune fruit trees
We are nearing mid
February and it is time to
prune most fruit trees in
East Texas. Hopefully, the
coldest part of winter is
over, and the trees will
soon be growing and heal-
ing pruning injuries.
Pruning fruit trees can be
beneficial in several ways.
Some of the advantages
include improving tree
health by removing dead,
injured or diseased limbs,
improving ease of harvest-
ing by shaping and reduc-
ing tree height and increas-
ing flower production on
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trees such as peaches that
bloom on new growth, im-
proving fruit quality by al-
lowing more light penetra-
tion, which improves fruit
color and by thinning the
fruit crop which improves
fruit size and sugar content.
I recommend lopping
shears as a basic tool.
They can cut wood from
one-quarter inch to one
and a half inch diameter.
The long handles enable
someone standing on the
ground to prune limbs up
to an eight-foot height. The
long handles also allow
extra leverage when cut-
ting larger limbs. Fre-
quently no other equip-
ment is needed.
You may also want to
get some hand pruners
because they are very
useful on small plants or
when a lot of small limbs
less than a half inch in di-
ameter must be cut. The
short handles give more
control when doing de-
tailed pruning. A pruning
saw is needed for pruning
limbs too large for the lop-
ping shears.
The first step in pruning
is to remove any dead,
broken or diseased
branches.
Branches should be cut
back to the connection to
another branch. There is
generally a ridge or arena
of wrinkled wood around
the base of the branch
called the branch collar.
The collar has the ability to
heal nearby wounds and
should not be cut. The limb
should be cut just outside
the collar. The branch col-
lar will then quickly grow
over the cut surface.
Do not leave a stub
sticking out of the collar or
the collar will not be able
to grow over the cut sur-
face, and the stub will die.
This will sometimes lead to
a hollow in the tree.
Next, remove branches
growing toward the center
of the tree. These branches
will often cross other limbs
and cause rubbing injury.
These limbs will also pre-
vent light penetration and
air circulation, which re-
duce fruit coloring and en-
courage diseases. Limbs
of equal size forming a
sharp V will tend to split
apart. One of the limbs
should be removed before
the limbs get very large.
Limb growth can be di-
rected by pruning back to
a bud or shoot pointing
toward the direction that
growth is desired. This pro-
cedure allows the tree to
be shaped or to fill in gaps
in the tree structure.
Different methods of
pmning are used on differ-
ent fruit species. Peach,
nectarine and Japanese
plums produce fruit on
one-year-old wood. Be-
cause pruning stimulates
growth, it is the best means
available to assure an an-
nual supply of this essen-
tial fruiting wood. Japanese
plums also produce fruit on
spurs and should not be
pruned as much as
peaches.
Peaches and nectarines
are typically pruned to a
three-limb open center
form. This method allows
sunlight into the tree and
enables the fruit to de-
velop proper color. The
upper shoots can be
tipped to keep trees low
enough so the fruit can be
harvested without the aid
of ladders. Failure to con-
trol tree height will cause
the lower branches to be
shaded out and the fruiting
wood to be too high to
harvest without ladders.
Apple and pear trees
produce fruit on short
spurs that last 10 to 15
years. Excessive pruning
will remove the fruiting
spurs and reduce crop
size. It will also cause ex-
cessive non-spur produc-
ing wood to be produced,
which is non-productive.
Apple and pear trees
are normally trained to a
central leader or modified
central leader system.
Pruning basically consists
of thinning out thick areas
and removing weak or
damaged wood. Excessive
pmning can make the trees
prone to the fire blight dis-
ease.
Figs produce fruit on
current season wood, al-
though some varieties will
produce an early crop on
previous season’s growth.
Figs do not need heavy
pmning to produce fruiting
wood. Pruning consists
primarily of removing in-
ward growth when neces-
sary to keep the tree open.
Dead, diseased or dam-
aged wood along with
suckers and water sprouts
should be removed.
Important dates
• Virtual 4-H Youth Bass
Tournament Saturday Feb.
22. $25 to join 4-H and a
one-time fee of $10 for all
spring fishing events. For
more information, call
Brock Fry at (903) 665-
2421or go to
www.henderson. -agrilife. org.
• East Texas Beef Cattle
Shortcourse from 8:30
a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday-
Wednesday, Feb. 25-26
at the Corazon-Pitchford
Sale Facility in Athens. Day
1 $15, day 2 $40, both
days $45. Breakfast and
lunch will be served. One
CEU offered for day 1.
For more information, call
(903) 675-6130.
Question of the
week
Q. What causes bulb
onions to send up flower
stalks?
A. Flowering of onions
is usually caused by tem-
perature fluctuation. An
onion is classified as a bi-
ennial which means it usu-
ally takes two years to go
from seed to seed.
However, this condition
is triggered by tempera-
ture. If an onion plant is
exposed in alternating cold
and warm temperatures
resulting in the plant going
dormant, resuming growth,
going dormant and then
resuming growth again, the
bulbs prematurely flower
or bolt.
Man hunt tracks fugitive
across five states
By Erik Walsh
Tribune Staff Writer
ATHENS-Law en-
forcement in Corsicana
apprehended a fugitive
from a Georgia jail Feb.
14.
Raymond Smith, 39, is
awaiting transport back to
Georgia. His co-fugitive,
Chad Dasher, 38, has
been tracked to the Ala-
bama-Tennessee border
after the pair is thought to
have made their way to
Henderson County where
Dasher stole an SUV.
“Authorities have lo-
cated the vehicle and are
going after Dasher,” Hend-
erson County Sheriff’s
Office Major Botie
Hillhouse said.
A manhunt erupted for
Dasher, after his counter-
part in an elaborate Geor-
gia jailbreak, was caught
in Corsicana.
The same day a stolen
truck from Anderson
County was found on FM
607 and Henderson
County became the focus
of the search.
DPS helicopters, Texas
Department of Corrections
dogs, Henderson County
constables and police from
Athens and Brownsboro
assisted in the search, but
could not locate Dasher.
Authorities alerted citizens
living around the New York
community that Dasher
might be in the area.
The SUV was stolen at
about 2 a.m. Feb. 16 from
embattled Athens Water
Authority General Man-
ager Wylie Pirkle at his
residence on County Road
4325, which connects FM
607 to the New York
Community. The vehicle is
a 1991 Cadillac suburban.
Dasher a white male, 5-
9 and 140 pounds with
green eyes and brown hair.
He has an extensive crimi-
nal history, including ar-
rests for burglary, firearms,
fraud, narcotics, resisting
arrests and traffic offenses
and ahistory of fleeing from
law enforcement.
I ESD
I Continue
is to remain in Powell. The
tool costs about $20,000,
the mayor said. ESD board
president Frank Steed said
Wednesday that the district
would not take action on
the tool until a contract
agreement was in place
between his district and
Powell.
A petition to dissolve the
ESD initiated by Powell is
still circulating within the
district, which shares the
same boundaries as Ker-
ens ISD. The mayor said
during the meeting that
some areas within the ESD
are running 70 percent in
favor of dissolution, but
that the petition currently
lacks enough signatures
overall to call for the
ESD’s end.
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FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
New Mailing Address:
The Kerens Tribune
P.O. Box 183
Kerens, Texas 75144
New Telephone Numbers:
Phone: (903)887-4511
Fax: (903)887-4510
Physical Address:
The Monitor
1316 S. Third Street, Suite 108
Mabank, Texas 75147
New Email Address:
News: kteditor07@yahoo.com
Advertising: advertising@themonitor.net
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Cantrell, Pearl. The Kerens Tribune (Kerens, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 08, Ed. 1 Friday, February 21, 2014, newspaper, February 21, 2014; Kerens, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth659585/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Kerens Public Library.