242 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OIT. Doc. 



TABLE VI J 

 Effect of Cultural Methods on Yield, Color, Size and Growth, with- 

 out Fertilization 



Expt. 221, Mature Orchard, (a) Yield 



In the above results it will be noted that in the mature orchard, 

 tillage and cover crop for three years has been far superior to sod 

 mulch in yield and growth, having borne nearly one and a half 

 times as much fruit and showing more than double the increase in 

 growth. In color, the mulched fruit excells by more than thirty 

 per cent;* and in average size of apples it excells by about six per 

 cent. This last fact is undoubtedly connected with the smaller crop 

 on the mulched trees. 



The results of Tables VI and VII are apparently contradictory. 

 They are all explainable, however, on the bases of soil moisture and 

 age of trees. In the young orchards, with the herbage and three- 

 ton addition of straw, an effective mulch of sufficient extent was 

 maintained, while in the old orchard we were unable thus to cover 

 more than probably half the root area. In the latter case the term 

 sod mulch was distinctly appropriate since at least the outer half 

 of the roots was under a typical sod and often in dust-dry condi- 

 tion. 



•Really the mulch excels in color by 52.4 per cent., using the amount of color on th« cover 

 crop area as a base. 



