20 • STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



injury to the tree, whicli quickly formed an entirely new set of feeding 

 rootlets to take its place. 



^Vitli the mulch system, the feeding rootlets were almost all in the 

 top two inches of soil, and, where mulched with straw, there were, at 

 certain times of year, quantities of them clear up in the mulch. These, 

 at dry times, or during the winter, were often killed, bnt, as in the case 

 of cultivation, with no apparent damage to the tree. 



The root system in mulch was ai)parently larger, i)robably because it 

 was undisturbed by plowing. 



Now, how does sod mulch c'om})are with cultivation in cost? A 

 difficult question, as so much depends upon conditions. 



In the Auchter orchard in Prof. Hedricks' experiment, the cost of 

 clipping the grass, the only expense on the sod portions, was eighty 

 cents an acre, but this was a level orchard and easy to work. Cultiva- 

 tion was f3.92 per acre. 



In the Hitchins' orchard, which was hilly, the cost of clipping was 

 seventy-five cents, and the cost of cultivation was sixteen dollars and 

 twenty-eight cents an acre. 



It is a difficult matter to come at the cost in our straw mulched 

 orchard, for we have used straw and litter, leaves and rakings from 

 the farm, hauled at any time we felt like it. Most of the mulch has been 

 supplied from wet straw, which was paid for at paper mill prices, three 

 or four dollars a ton, and docked what we considered was equal to the 

 water contained it. As nearly as we can come at it, the average for ten 

 .years has been about ten dollars an acre, and an average of three tons 

 of dry straw per acre was applied during that period of years, i^er year. 



This would, apparently, make the cost of this form of management 

 greater than any other, except cultivation, in the Hitchings' orchard, 

 for we must add seventy-five cents for clipping, making $10.75 per acre. 

 There is, however, another point to consider in this connection, and that 

 is the fertilizer value of the straw. 



Wheat straw, according to most analyses contains 11.8% nitrogen, 

 2.4% phosphate, and 10.1 % potasb, per ton of straw, worth about 

 two dollars and forty cents. Or, counting three tons per acie, seven dol- 

 lars and twenty cents' worth that should be deducted from the |10.75 per 

 acre, which would leave -13.55 per acre. 



It is interesting to note that the fertilizer value of the straw almost 

 balances the amount taken from the soil by a good crop. For instance. 

 Prof. Huston says a thirty-year-old orchard would take from the soil 

 about 50 7o nitrogen, 14% phosphate, and 55% potash to perfect 

 a good crop of fruit, leaves and wood. 



As old an orchard as that would take close to five tons of straw to 

 mulch it, which would contain 59% nitrogen, 12% phosphate, and 

 50.5% potash, and this in the most available form of plant food. 



The object in fertilizing a sod mulch orchard should be to stimulate 

 the growth of grass and so indirectly affect the tree. 



Clover and timothy hay in an orchard that will cut a ton of dry hay 

 per acre, will return something like 33% nitrogen, 9% phosphate, 

 and 31% potash; June grass, 38% nitrogen, 5% phosphate, and 44% 

 potash. 



As satisfactory as sod mulch has proved with us, it would not show 

 good judgment to advocate its use under all conditions. If an orchardist 



