400 



State Horticultural Society. 



ment. It is true that only about 1 1 per cent of tlie orchards there have 

 been in cultivation during- the, past five years, while 33 per cent have been 

 in sod in this leading apple export county of New York, where some 

 8 per cent of the entire tillable area of the county is in apple orchards, 

 and where are about 1-25 as many apple trees as in the entire State of 

 Missouri. Of the young orchards, however, it may be of interest to 

 note that only 36 per cent of the area is sown to grass, 9 per cent sown 

 to small crops, while the remaining 55 per cent is given clean culture. 



YIELD OF CULTIVATED AND UNCULTIVATED ORCHARDS CONTRASTED. 



Five-year average per acre, 1900-1905. Orchards all well cared 



for.f 



Bushels. 



Income. 



TiUed ten years or more 



Tilled five years or more 



Tilled over half of preceding five years 



Sod over half of preceding five years 



Sod five years or more 



Sod ten years or more 



tlS9 CO 

 148 00 

 121 00 

 118 00 

 134 00 

 117 00 



It should be noted that these orchards were all well cared for, 

 all receiving some fertilizer, and were sprayed, yet cultivation shows an 

 increase m the average return during the last five years of $72.00 per 

 acre, or 61 per cent, as compared with similar orchards grown in sod. 



In another report from the same institution,* on Wayne county, 

 New York, a county producing apples chiefly for evaporating purposes, 

 some very interesting and valuable data still further emphasizing the 

 advantages of tillage are presented, of which the following is a brief 

 summary : 



WAYNE COUNTY, N. Y., YIELD IN BUSHELS OF TILLED AND UNTILLED 



ORCHARDS. 



Number 

 orchards. 



Acres. 



Average 

 yield. 



1900. 



Tilled five years or more 



Tilled most years 



Sod most years, tilled occasionally. 

 Sod five years or more 



35 

 36 

 43 

 51 



298^ 



241 



620'/j 



341 



309 

 301 

 156 



tAn Apple Orchard Survey of Orleans Oounty, N. Y. Bulletin 229, Cornell University. 

 *0ornell University Bulletin 226. An Apple Orchard Survey of Wayne County, N. Y. 



