228 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



as methods of i)i'eveiiriiig- (lamping off of coniferous seedlings and studies 

 in reducing transplanting losses. 



Respectfully sunibitted, 



A. k! CHITTENDEN, 



Forester. 

 East Lansing, Michigan, June 30, 1922. 



KE1»0RT OF THE HORTiri LTT^KAL SECTION. 



Director R. S. Shaw, 

 Dear Sir: 



The following is a brief report of the experimental work of this section 

 for the year ending July 1, 1!)22. 



The investigational work has been concerned largely with such lines of 

 work as have been i)reviously reported. With many of them the work 

 has progressed very satisfactorily but, being long-termed experiments, 

 there is nothing sipecial to report at the i)resent time. 



Some very satisfactory results were obtained the past year in the 

 spraying and dusting ex})eriments under Mr. AV. C. Dutton. The results 

 of this work have been juildished in S])ecial Bulletin No. 115, and have 

 also been iu'corporated in the recommendations of the Section in the 

 new edition of the S])ray and I'ractice Outline, Si)eci'al Bulletin No. Ill, 

 published in co-operation with the Entomological and Botanicial Sections. 



During the past 3'ear a revised edition of the bulletin on Raspberry 

 Culture was published as Circular Bulletin No. 37. 



The increasing scarcity of stable manures, the increased cost of labor 

 and the presence in the fruit sections of Michigan of many acres of land 

 too rough and hilly for cultivation make the problem of producing fruit 

 on some system other than the cultivation sj-stem, of pressing invport- 

 ance. Hence a summary report of i)rogress of the work in this is of 

 interest to the growers: 



CULTURAL I'ROJECT WITH YOUXG AITLE TREES 



Object : To compare the effect of various system^s of culture for growing 

 young apple trees in regard to growth and earliness of bearing. 



The orchard used in this experiment is known as Blocks X and XI on 

 the Graham Horticultural Experiment Station. The trees are of six 

 varieties planted in groups of four rows each : Duchess, Grimes, Baldwin, 

 Stayman, Spy, Rhode Island Greening. 



A cover crop of rye was planted in each of the five plots in this experi- 

 ment during July of 11)11), the year that the orchard was set. In the 

 spring of 1920 it was plowed under about blossoming time and kei)t 

 dragged every two or three weeks during the growing season. 



About the middle of July a cover crop of clover was sown in Blots 1 

 and 2, and alfalfa in Plots 3, 1 and 5. A very good stand of alfalfa' was 

 obtained, but the catch of clover was poor. I'lot 2 was re-seeded to clover 



