Fruit Pkoduction in New York 1361 



have come in vogiie because of the performance of a few individual 

 orchards in the State. Unfortunatelj it is not yet known whether 

 these orchards are the exception or the rule, that is, whether or 

 not they represent the average run of apple orchards in New York. 



The New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva 

 has an experiment to test these methods of orchard management. 

 The following are the chief results for five years in this experi- 

 ment, showing the annual average amount of fruit on 5 acres : sod, 

 340.2 barrels; tillage, 509.7 barrels; difference, 169.5 barrels. 

 Annual acre average: sod, 68 barrels; tillage, 101.9 barrels; differ- 

 ence, 33.9 barrels an acre. 



The one respect in which the sod-mulch fruit surpasses the 

 tilled is in color. But since in every jjossible test the tilled trees 

 are shown to be most vigorous, and since wounded, diseased, and 

 decrepit trees always bear fruit of high color, it can be said that 

 the bright color of the sod fruit is the hectic flush of disease. 



The fruit on the sod-plat matures from two to three weeks 

 earlier than that on the tilled land and there is even a greater 

 difference in the length of time the apples from the two plats will 

 keep. The fruit from the tilled plat is crisper, juicier and better 

 flavored, a fact attested to by all of the many apple connoisseurs 

 who have been asked to taste the apple. The growth of trees is 

 more uniform on the tilled plat than on the sod and the crops on 

 the trees, both as to size and quantity of fruit, are more uniform. 

 In commercial orcharding it is greatly to be desired that trees be- 

 have uniformly. 



How were the trees themselves affected ? The health and vigor 

 of a tree is almost directly proportional to the increase in the 

 diameter of the trunk. The trees on the sod plat gained an aver- 

 age of 1.1 inches in diameter; on the tilled plat, 2.1 inches. This 

 is as clear-cut and as accurate evidence as can be offered. The an- 

 nual growth of new wood on an apple tree is a most important 

 criterion because it measures both the vigor and the bearing 

 capacity of the tree. The average annual growth per branch on 

 the sodded trees was 3.4 inches ; tilled trees, 6.7 inches, the tilled 

 trees making twice the growth made by those on sod. The foliage 

 of a tree is as ready a test and as delicate a one to determine health 

 as the pulse is to a human being. The tell-tale tints of the leaves, 



