18 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been made to cultivate it, with tlie i^esnlt that tlie steep liillsides were 

 badly washed. This plot contains two and a half acres. 



The trees in all three orchards were unhealthy and weak in appear- 

 ance, made little growth, bore irregularly and it was apparent that some- 

 thing must be done if we were to stay in the apple business. 



A talk by Prof. Green, of Ohio, at the State Horticultural meeting in 

 11)04 gave us the idea, and orchards No. 2 and No. ?* were seeded to 

 timothy and clover. No. 1 was left in blue gra.ss sod, but pasturing was 

 discontinued, and an occasional coat of barnyard manure was given all 

 of them until they were on their feet again. 



Now the only care they receive is to mulch Nos. 2 and 3 with straw or 

 other litter out as far as the limbs reach or a little farther, and the 

 grass is clipi)ed once a year before it goes to seed, seed production draw- 

 ing heavily on the soil moisture which we wish to preserve for the grow- 

 ing a]»ples. We calculate to clip the grass rather early, before the apples 

 begin to use great (piantities of moisture, while there is still plenty of 

 moisture in the ground from the spring rains. The grass being allowed 

 To lie where it falls aids materially as a mulch in conserving this mois- 

 ture which is so necessary to growing fiiiit of any sort. 



In No. 1 the grass is not even clijiped, but blue grass is an early 

 maturing grass and dies down early enough so it does not act as a robber 

 at the time the apples are growing rapidly. 



This is an important point in sod culture. We should try to use early 

 maturing grasses and those that will produce a good crop of hay to 

 return to the soil as humus. Clover and timothy are good if cut early. 

 The clover being a biennial does not last long, but we find it self-sows 

 when in a favorable year there is a second crop, so there is apt to be 

 quite a bit of it all the Avhile. Orchard grass is good and we have 

 used a little alfalfa in the mixture. Alfalfa would not do as a crop, 

 however, as it is too rank a grower, producing several cr<)])s a year and 

 removing vast quantities of water from the soil, but it has the good 

 l)oints of being a nitrogen gatherer and of rooting very deeply, bringing 

 fertility from below to the surface where it is available for the produc- 

 tion of apples. 



The i)rofltable production of apples depends on several essential 

 factors. 



We must have a good, healthy tree, with ahundant foliage to elaborate 

 the materials taken up by the roots and make it available in the growth 

 of plant and fruit. The root system must be vigorous and have an 

 abundant supply of the necessary plant foods within reach in the soil. 



The soil, in order that it may give up these plant foods in sufficient 

 quantities, must contain a plentiful supply of humus, which is not only 

 a plant food in itself but also helps to make the plant food in the soil 

 available. Humus aJso renders the soil capable of holding a plentiful 

 sujjply of air and water which are the two most essential factors in the 

 life of a plant. More and more we are coming to find out that air and 

 water in unstinted quantities have more to do with the production of a 

 plentiful supply of fruit than anything else. 



There are but two ways of obtaining these conditions. First, by cul- 

 tivation with cover crops. Then, often the cover crop fails us and we 

 go backward instead of fonvard. Second, by sod mulch, under which 

 the cover crop is always present, the soil always full of humus, and an 



