504 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



to eleven times, a cover crop, usually of clover, following. In the 

 sod plats was a mixed growth of orchard grass and blue grass. 

 These grasses were mowed once during the summer, usually about 

 the middle of June, and left as they fell, to form the " sod mulch." 



Mishaps and slow maturity have prevented crop yields in Plat A. 

 In the other plats, also, the data regarding yields are not as satis- 

 factory as could be desired, but, in brief: The trees in sod bore an 

 average of a little less than four bushels while those in tillage bore 

 a little more than three bushels per tree. 



Taking diameter of the tree trunks as the gauge of the two treat- 

 ments in the bearing orchard, we find that the trees thrive as well 

 under one method as the other. Using the same measure for the 

 trees in Plat A on the floor of the valley we must conclude that those 

 under tillage are doing much the better. Why the difference? 

 Because the hillside seepage furnishes an abundance of moisture 

 for both trees and grass, but in the dryer soil of the valley trees 

 in sod cannot compete successfully with the grass for moisture. 



In comparing costs the data are disappointing. The extremes are 

 too far apart. The cost of tilling Plat A was at the rate of $11.22 per 

 acre, Plat B $13.30 per acre, and Plat C $24.33. We paid for cutting 

 grass in plats A and B at the rate of 60 cents per acre and 96 cents 

 per acre in Plat C. The average for the tilled plats was $16.28, for 

 the sod plats 72 cents per acre. These figures bring out the point 

 that the cost of tillage is bound to vary greatly, depending upon 

 land, tools, teams, number of cultivations and other factors. The 

 cost of cutting grass will be more nearly the same for all orchards. 



In conclusion, while unquestionably tillage is the best method 

 of caring for the majority of the apple orchards in New York, yet 

 there are particular places, soils and economic conditions under 

 which the Hitchings method of sod-mulching apple trees may be 

 used advantageously: 



1 st. Orchards on steep hillsides where land would wash badly 

 under tillage may often well be kept in sod. 



2d. On land covered with rocks, trees may best stand in sod. 



3d. The Hitchings method is adapted only to soils having suit- 

 able depth. On shallow soils it will usually prove a failure. 



4th. Soils must be retentive of moisture. On land that annually 

 suffers from summer droughts the sod-mulch treatment will almost 

 certainly prove less beneficial to trees than tillage. 



