342 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



was reported in three of them. Vegetables and small fruits 

 were used as intercrops in three cases and no injury was noted. 



Timothy, clover and alfalfa were used in the sod orchards, 

 and the grass was left in one and the first cutting removed in 

 the other. Five of the six growers used manures and two added 

 fertilizers in addition. The fertilizer in one case consisted of 

 lime and potash, arid in the other of nitrates and potash. Whether 

 the fertilizer was of any value or not is difficult to state, as prob- 

 ably no trees were left untreated for comparison. 



Going south to the central- west section, the reports jump to 

 thirty, and if this number is a criterion then this section ranks 

 third in importance as a fruit section. Three of the thirty grow- 

 ers have used only tillage, twenty both tillage and sod, and seven 

 only sod. Two of the three tillage men have been growing their 

 trees two and five respectively, and perhaps they will seed 

 their orchards down before very long. The third tillage man 

 has cultivated his orchard fifteen years, but he thinks tillage is 

 best when trees are young. One man has had his trees in sod 

 for twenty years, and, like his compatriots, has noted no injury. 



Five orchardists thought cultivation induced blight, eight 

 that it increased the health of the trees, thirteen that it increased 

 vigor and growth, and four that it increased productiveness. 



As a general rule most of the orchards were seeded down 

 when five to six years old, that is, when they commenced to 

 bear. In fifteen, or one-half of the orchards, intercrops of vege- 

 tables and small fruit have been grown. The only reported 

 injury was from the use of currants and gooseberries. No 

 cover crops were mentioned. Red clover and clover were sown 

 in eleven cases, alfalfa in three, alsike and white clover in two, 

 timothy in ten, and Junegrass in seven. Timothy appeared by 

 self-seeding in two more, Junegrass in three, and weeds in four. 

 As in previous cases, the combination of red clover and timothy 

 proved to be the most popular mixture. 



Five, or one-sixth of the orchards, were pastured with hogs, 

 cattle and calves, the first two kinds of animals being the most 

 common. 



Manure and mulches were applied in twenty-seven out of 

 the thirty orchards and various benefits were noted, as an in- 

 crease in size of apples, color of foliage and productiveness, and 

 a decrease in the amount of sod. The amount applied, as in the 

 other sections of Minnesota, is very variable and difficult to state 

 in exact weights. 



