APPLE GROWING 



sod IS stimulated and encouraged and when the 

 grass dies or Is cut, It Is left on the ground 

 to decay, forming a soil mulch meanwhile. The 

 removal of grass from the orchard as hay Is 

 poor practice and should be discouraged. The 

 grass mulch may well be supplemented by the 

 addition of other grass, straw, leaves, coarse 

 manure, or other similar materials. Sometimes 

 this mulch Is put on to the depth of six Inches 

 or even a foot around the tree. Thus practiced 

 It Is very effective In conserving moisture and 

 In adding the humus which Is so necessary to 

 the soil. 



Sod and tillage have somewhat different 

 effects on the tree and on the fruit. Let us 

 see what these effects are. It Is common knowl- 

 edge that fruit Is more highly colored when 

 grown In sod than when grown under a tillage 

 system. This is probably largely due to the 

 fact that tillage keeps the fruit growing so late 

 that It does not mature so well or so early. 

 Fruit Is usually two or three weeks later In 

 tilled than In sod orchards. It has been shown 

 that fruit grown under tillage keeps from two 

 to four weeks longer than that grown In sod. 

 It is claimed also — but this is a disputed point 

 — that tilled fruit has a better quality and 



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