400 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



inj2;s the yield will be largely increased and quality improved. With 

 the mulch method you accumulate humus in your soil; with clean 

 cultivation 3'ou burn it out or exhaust it." 



We are now ready for direct evidence as to the relative values 

 of tillage and sod-mulch for the a])i)le. ITow do the systems of man- 

 agement pan out in a commercial orchard? The orchard in which 

 the Geneva Station for five years tiied the two methods in located 

 on the farm of Mr. W. D, Auchter, at South Greece, New York. 

 The orchard consists of ten acres of Baldwin trees thirty years 

 old, five acres tilled, five acres in sod. The soil is a medium heavy 

 clay loam, rich, and containing enough giavel to nmke it porous. 

 It was selected as typical of the average orchard soil of Western 

 New York. The experiment being cairied on is a broader one than 

 a simple trial of tillage and sod-mulch. The experimenters hope 

 to add something to what is now known about the food and drink 

 of trees — how trees take them in, make use of them, and with what 

 effects ; what influence soil temperature and soil ventilation have 

 on the development and function of tree roots ; and among still 

 other problems, what the relationships between grass and the apple 

 may be. 



It should be said too, that the experiment is to run ten years at 

 least and that the results now given cover but half the minimum 

 I»eriod and are therefore in some respects inconclusive and super- 

 ficial. For instance, the discussion now centers around the yield 

 of fruit. While of course the crop is the ultimate criterion of or- 

 chard treatment yet the effect upon the trees as indicated by the leaf, 

 wood and root development is quite as important an index of the 

 value of tree treatment as the crop of fruit. 



The care of the two plots in the Aiichter orchard has been as 

 follows: The tilled plot is plowed in the spring and cultivated from 

 four to six times ending the cultivation about August first, at which 

 time a cover crop of barley, oats or clover is sown. On the sod- 

 mulch plots, the grass is cut once or twice during the season and 

 allowed to lie where cut and decay into a mulch. The grass crop 

 has usually been large, but last year it was enormous, thick and tall, 

 standing to the top of the fore wheels of a buggy and no one could 

 say that it was ever insufficient for a good mulch. In all other 

 details of care the treatment has been the same in the two plots. 



The ultimate criterion of the relative merits of the management 

 to which an orchard is subjected is the crops of fruit obtained. It 

 is important, however, that trees should grow well and for the meas- 

 ure of vigor there are several characters of the trees available; as the 

 leaf area on the tree, the length of new wood formed : the number 

 of new shoots and the color of leaf and wood. The properties 

 of the fruit, as size, color, time of maturity, keeping qualities and 

 flavor must be noted. We come now to a discussion of these criteria. 



The effects of the two methods of management on yield of fruit 

 are shown by the following figures: 



Bbls. sod. Bbls. tillage. 



1904 Clo.l 591.9 



1905', 233. 278.9 



1906 210.3 531.1 



1907, 275.3 424.3 



1908, 325.3 722.5 



