APPLE GROWING 



cent, in favor of good tillage. In Orleans 

 County, under the same conditions, the Increase 

 in yield due to cultivation was forty-five per 

 cent, and in Niagara County it was twenty-two 

 per cent. Records were made on hundreds 

 of orchards and the results should be given 

 great weight in determining the system to be 

 practiced, as intelligent consideration of trust- 

 worthy records is to be encouraged. 



These results were obtained in one region 

 under its conditions and it Is quite possible, 

 although not probable, that other conditions 

 might give different results. There are, how- 

 ever, special conditions as will be pointed out 

 later, under which the sod mulch method might 

 be more advisable than tillage. It is cheaper, 

 makes a cleaner cover for the drop fruit, avoids 

 the damage from tillage implements to which 

 tilled trees are liable, and can be practiced on 

 lands too steep to till. It often happens, too, 

 that it fits into the scheme of management on 

 a general farm better than the more intensive 

 and specialized system of cultivation. And It 

 must be remembered that we are dealing with 

 this question from the point of view of the home 

 farm rather than of the commercial orchardist. 

 So that where the sod mulch gives equally good 



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