520 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



might, however, be some difference in form of top whereby the trees, 

 though larger in trunk diameter, would be possibly less desirable 

 orchard plants. Spread of branch and height of tree ought to give 

 all of the data in regard to form of top needed by a fruit-grower. 

 It would have been too difficult a task to take these dimensions 

 in the twenty-year-old trees in Plat B and Plat C and we can therefore 

 but say that gauged by the eye, height of tree and spread of branch 

 in the trees in these plats increased very closely in accordance with 

 the increase in diameter of trunk. Plates XLIV and XLV show at 

 least that the differences in these particulars are not very marked. 

 It was easier to measure the height and spread of the young trees 

 in Plat A. Table III gives these dimensions and Plate XLVI shows 

 them compared in photographs. The figures in the table need no 

 amplification. They show a very material increase in both height 

 and spread of branches for tilled trees. 



Table III. — Height and Spread of Apple Trees on Sod and Tilled Land. 



PLAT A, HITCHINGS ORCHARD. 



Height in feet. , 

 Spread in feet. , 

 Gain in height . 

 Gain in spread. 



Sod. 



R.I. 



Greening, 

 45 trees. 



10.01 

 11.8 



Sutton, 

 21 trees. 



11.07 

 7.61 



Tillage. 



R.I. 



Greening, 

 55 trees. 



10.11 

 13.10 

 .10 

 1.3 



Sutton, 

 28 trees. 



12.38 

 8.52 

 1.31 



uniformity in trees and crops. 



One of the best tests of any orchard treatment is uniformity of 

 trees. In a plantation of trees of the same age uniformity is a financial 

 asset. It is essential in good orcharding that trees bear annually, 

 that the fruit be uniform in size and color, that the crop be well 

 distributed on the tree and that the trees in the orchard bear approxi- 

 mately the same quantity of fruit. In growth of trunk and branches 

 and of foliage there should also be as few departures as possible 

 from the normal. 



In the first report on sod mulch and tillage published by this 

 Station, in all of these respects the honors went to the tilled trees. 

 As regards the crops of fruit in the two kinds of culture in the Hitch- 



