508 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



Inhabitants of hilly countries know well that moist, spongy land 

 may be looked for at the foot or on the sides of high elevations of 

 land. The expected happens in the Hitchings orchard, for the 

 land, at all seasons of the year but especially in early spring, con- 

 tains much water despite well constructed open ditches to carry 

 it away. In fact there are several springs in the orchard, which, 

 however, Mr. Hitchings says, usually dry up in June, and do not 

 begin to flow again until late fall. In a heavier or shallower soil 

 the same amount of water would saturate the land so thoroughly 



Row. 



f 1.. 



Sod 



Tillage • 



DIAGRAMS OF PLATS 

 1. Plat A. 



Wagener. 



2 R. I. Greening. 



3 Sutton. 



4 R. I. Greening. 



5 Sutton. 



6 R. I. Greening. 



7 Sutton. 



8 R. I. Greening. 



3. Plat C. 

 Row. 



Tillage { 



[2 Northern Spy. 



Northern Spy. 



Sod 



3 Northern Spy. 



4 Northern Spy . 



,5 Northern Spy. 



as to make it unworkable. This seepage is one of the fundamental 

 factors in the success of the sod mulch in Plat B and Plat C in the 

 Hitchings orchards. In the plat on level ground, A, all the tests 

 possible to apply at this time show the tilled trees to be the better; 

 on the sidehill, in B and C, the tests show sod mulch to be the 

 better. The chief environmental difference between Plat A and 



