542 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



respect, the tilled fruit having 84.37 per ct. moisture, the sod-mulch 

 fruit 84.17 per ct. There is no appreciable difference in the specific 

 gravity of the most of the fruit from the two plats as indicated by 

 the hydrometer, showing that the percentage of soluble solids is 

 practically the same in the two products." 



" There are noteworthy differences in the flesh of the two fruits. 

 That of the apples from the sodded trees is yellowish in color and 

 frequently tinted with red at the circumference while that of the 

 apples from the tilled trees is greenish and never tinted. Of more 

 importance commercially is the fact that the flesh of the sodded 

 fruit is more frequently spotted with the " Baldwin spot," a dry, 

 corky condition of portions of the flesh due probably to some physio- 

 logical trouble. This corky tissue sometimes envelops the core 

 and in other specimens involves not a little of the circumference 

 of the fruit. Such a physiological defect must be considered as a 

 result of some harmful disturbance in the well-being of the tree." 



effects of the two treatments on the trees. 

 Diameter of trunks. — Experience with several orchard experiments 

 shows plainly that if but one phase of growth is chosen to measure 

 health and vigor of tree, increase in diameter of trunk is much the 

 most satisfactory. Increase in growth and vigor of the whole tree 

 is directly proportional to the increase in the diameter of the trunks. 

 Table IV shows the gains in diameter of the trunks of the trees tilled 

 ten years over those in sod ten years. The diameters are those of 

 mid-trunk, the lengths of these trunks averaging about four and 

 one-half feet. The final figures show most strikingly the greater 

 growth of the tilled trees. We begin to realize the magnitude of 



Table IV. — Gain in Trunk Diameters of Trees Ten Years in Sod and Ten 



Years Under Tillage. 



Average gain for sod 2.39 in., average gain for tillage 3.90 in., average gain of tillage over sod, 

 1.51 in. 



