New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 535 



plats. 



The Auchter orchard consists of a little over nine and one-half 

 acres of Baldwin trees set in 1877 at a distance apart of 40 feet. 

 There are ten rows in the orchard, each having 26 trees. During 

 the first twenty years of its existence the orchard was badly neglected, 

 the results of which are shown in several derelict trees which, with 

 a few replaced trees, are not in the experiment. For several years 

 before the land was leased by the Station, the orchard had been under 

 tillage with an annual cover-crop and had borne very good crops. 

 Diagram 4 is a chart of the orchard showing the plats, which may be 

 further described as follows: 



Plat 1 was in sod the first five years; cultivated the last five years. 



Plat 2 has been cultivated for ten years. 



Plat 3 has been in sod ten years. 



Plat 4 was cultivated five years; in sod during the past five years. 



Plat 5 has been in sod ten years with applications of nitrate of 

 soda the past five years. 



Plat 6 was cultivated the first five years; in sod the last five years 

 with applications of nitrate of soda. 



Plat 7 has been in sod ten years. 



Plat 8 was cultivated five years and has been in sod during the 

 past five years. 



MANAGEMENT OF PLATS. 



The trees in all of the plats have received as nearly identical care 

 as possible in all operations excepting soil treatment. The soil in 

 the sod area and the tilled area has been managed as follows: 



Sod plat. — Since one half of the area which was to be under sod 

 during this experiment had been under cultivation the previous 

 five years, it was necessary to seed down this part in 1909. The 

 ground was fitted in the spring and on June 2 a mixture of blue grass, 

 orchard grass, timothy and clover seed was sowed. The half of the 

 area which was in sod at the beginning of the experiment was cut 

 June 3 and August 3. Throughout the experiment the grass was left 

 where it fell, none being removed from the orchard. The dates of 

 mowing for the five years were as follows: 



1909 — June 3 and August 3; 1910 — June 6; 1911 — May 30 and 

 July 27; 1912 — June 7; 1913 — May and July 26. 



