192 



Bulletin 307 



SOIL MANAGEMENT 



General practice 

 The general practice in soil management in the county is the sod method. 

 Table 21 shows that about 56 per cent of the orchards are left in sod 5 

 years or more, 41 per cent are left in sod 10 years or more, while only 

 14 per cent are tilled 5 years or more: 



TABLE 21. Soil Treatment 



Treatment 



Tilled 10 years or more 



Tilled 5-10 years 



Tilled 3 out of 5 years. 

 Sod 3 out of 5 years. . . 



Sod 5-10 years 



Sod 10 years or more. . 



Orchards 



Relation of soil management to yield and income 



From the fact that so large a percentage of orchards are left in sod, 

 we should expect this type of management to be most profitable, for in 

 the long run people are quite likely to follow methods that bring the great- 

 est returns. In this case, however, the greatest return for the least labor 

 seems to be the governing principle. 



TABLE 22. Relation of Soil Treatment to Yield and Income" 



Treatment 



Tilled 10 years or more 



Tilled s-io years 



Tilled 3 out of s years. 

 Sod 3 out of 5 years . . . . 



Sod s-io years 



Sod 10 years or more. . . 



Income per acre 



1904 1905 1906 1907 4-yr. av 



$116 85 

 144 92 



125 89 

 94 70 

 68 38 



III 16 



$154 49 



127 75 



99 03 



112 98 



89 70 



81 85 



*"*^^' 133 00 

 140 61 ( ■'•'•>■"" 



104 86 



108 94 



'°3 98' ,02 



