332 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



followed the most approved method of orchard management. I mean 

 by that, plowing in the spring, harrowing until midsummer, and then 

 starting a cover crop, plowing that down the following spring, and 

 keeping that up year after year. 



Now, that is not all of the story. These potatoes, or beans and 

 peas, as we have used sometimes, have returned from |50. to $75. to 

 the acre. Now, of course, we cannot utilize all the ground, and these 

 figures are very conservative. Limestone soil is not a good potato 

 soil, and having a good potato soil you should do much better, but 

 our returns have been |50. to $75. to the acre. That means that the 

 farmer growing crops between his trees will more than pay for the 

 expense of that orchard while it is coming on and make a profit out 

 of potatoes besides. I am sorry that I cannot show you a part of 

 the orchard showing the trees mulched. The finest apple trees in 

 this young orchard at State College are where we have mulched them 

 every year heavily with straw. Those are the finest trees in the or- 

 chard. These trees are better than any other trees, even those where 

 we have gone through the potatoes, where we have jdanted cover 

 crops. I have to make one exception, where we have grown alfalfa, 

 taken the alfalfa and mulched the trees, we have gotten better growth 

 there than where we have mulched with straw, and that is due to the 

 larger amount of nitrogen added to the trees. We have a cover crop 

 of vetch, one of our best cover crops in Pennsylvania, certainly on 

 limestone soil, where we have been making this experiment. Soy 

 bean is also very good and certainly better on a limestone soil than 

 cow peas. 



There is another lesson I want to bring to you; we referred to 

 alfalfa a moment ago as being desirable to grow in young orchards. 

 The best trees in that orchard are where we have grown alfalfa, 

 mulched the trees with alfalfa so heavily, that the moisture is con- 

 served more perfectly than in uncultivated areas. There is one 

 other lesson — it is possible to grow a surplus of alfalfa in that 

 young orchard which can be sold or used as hay; in other words, 

 ihe growing of alfalfa in the young orchard is worth considering as 

 a business proposition, aside from the growing of strong, vigorous 

 young trees. I think that these are the most important lessons 

 that can be brought from our experimental work with fruit trees. 

 There is a picture showing some experiments with ground rock 

 on peaches. We found that some of the commercial preparations 

 recommended for the spraying of peach trees are decidedly injurious 

 and should be used with great care. The trees must always be 

 ()rotectd from mice. We keep the straw away from the tree a little 

 way, but if you will use wire collars to keep the mice away, it is 

 certainly very successful. 



A Member: They get under the protection and eat at the roots. 



PROF. WATTS: We have not experienced that trouble at State 

 College so far as the growth is concerned. That certainly is n verv 

 satisfactory plan. This general conclusion niiglit be drawn, that 

 that plan of orchard management is best, so far as tlie tree growth 

 is concerned, which conserves the moisture most perfectly. It is 

 a moisture question very largely. Now for a few pictures. We 

 have here our new stock judging pavilion, which is heated comfort- 



