600 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



in the case of sheep, the manure dropped adds fertility. Again the 

 hogs running in the orchard pick up the windfalls and destroy 

 worms. I don't think we realize the real value of hogs in the orchard 

 as destroyers of insects. Take the rings out of their noses and let 

 them root. They will do no harm. What parts of the orchard 

 do they root? They root under the trees that have borne the 

 fruit that year. The part that bears one year probably may not 

 bear the next. Now you may say that the hogs destroy the roots. 

 Asa matter of fact they don't. Two or three hogs to an acre makes 

 a good method of tillage. 



Now, let us look at the previous table. If there is a method of 

 sod treatment which equals tillage the groAvers have not found it. 

 In other words, the best of the yields of sod do not come up to the 

 best of the yields of tillage. As a matter of fact in the counties 

 w|iich we have studied only one orchard out of five of the sod 

 gave yields equal to the average of the tilled orchard. Now, an 

 orchard, to be successful, must not equal the average. It must be 

 above the average. If there is a method of sod management equal 

 to tillage, the growers have not found it in our state. Now, those 

 figures on tillage, sod management are striking but they are exactly 

 what our growers are getting. They are exactly the results, com- 

 parative results in dollars and cents in yields under these different 

 method of treatment for the last five years. We have not been tilling 

 well enough. It is all right to have these fine, big well-flavored apples 

 to pick, but before you pick a beautiful apple, you must grow it. Now 

 we must improve our method of growing apples. We must till better 

 in New York. Just take those figures and look them over, 



CHESTER TYSON: How do you explain the fact that the well- 

 cared-for orchard in Orleans county does not show a greater pre- 

 mium over the ordinarily cared for? 



MR. FOX: Why does the orchard in sod five years or more show 

 better results than what has been tilled three years or more in the 

 tilled orchard? 



PROF. WILSON: I don't know, I have a few ideas of my own 

 on tillage and cultivation and sod. Both of these methods can be 

 carried to the extreme. If I had an orchard of my own, I shouldn't 

 keep it in sod every year nor till it every year. I should combine 

 tillage and sod. I should till about three years, putting some cover 

 crop on each year. Leave it in sod the remaining two. There is 

 such a thing as tilling the orchard to death. 



MR. WERTZ: In pasturing hogs, how late in the season would 

 you allow thera in the orchard? 



PROF. W^ILSON: Leave them there until the apples are largo 

 enough so that when they drop they can be sold, or are of some 

 value. 



If you have been plowing and can plow without breaking the 

 roots, plow it up in the spring, cultivate until after the first of July. 

 Don't cultivate after July, The sod orchard matures its wood 

 sooner. 



Now for the matter of spraying. You will remember it is one 

 of the four important factors. Here are the results we got from 

 spraying: 



