S<M> MCLCH vs. TII.LA<;K FOR AIMM.K ( )RCII AI:I>S 807 



CTIAXGE OF KXl'KKI.MEXT 



The experiment as above described was continued for five years, 

 \\licn it was proven without doubt to the fruit growers in my 

 section that tillage j-.nd cover crops was the only method of orchard 

 culture to use in western New York, at least. The Geneva Ex- 

 periment Station published Bulletin No. 314 at this time, giving 

 the live years' results of the two tests. 



The orchard was then cut across the narrow way, making four 

 equal plats. ( )ne plat was left in sod for five years more, making 

 ten years in all ; the other sod plat was plowed up and given tillage 

 and cover crop ; one tilled plat was carried 011 for five years more, 

 while the other tilled plat was seeded down to sod. We were in- 

 terested to see if the tillage would bring up the sod quarter and 

 also to see what effect the sod would have on the tilled quarter. 



RESULTS OBTAINED 



The results could be seen sooner than we had expected. During 

 tlie first summer that the sod plat was plowed up and tilled, the 

 foliage at once became as dark a green and as healthy as that on the 

 plat that had always been plowed. The trees began to grow and 

 take on a brighter appearance, and at the end of the year it hardly 

 seemed possible that such a beneficial result could have been ob- 

 tained from one year's plowing and harrowing. The crop like- 

 wise became larger on these plats, as shown in Table I. 



When we came to study the other quarter of the orchard that 

 which had been tilled five years and then seeded down to sod - 

 the results were just as marked. The trees began to show the detri- 

 mental effects of sod the first season. The foliage was poorer, 

 the tree growth shorter and the yields were reduced. At the close 

 of five years this plat looked as bad as that which had been in 

 sod for ten years. It looked to us as if the grass robbed the trees 

 of more moisture than it conserved. 



TABLE I 



AVERAGE YEARLY YIELDS PER TREE FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS UNDER DIFFERENT 



CULTURAL METHODS 



Cultural Methods 



Tilled for ten years 



Sod for ten years 



Tilled five years, then sod five years 



Sod five years, then tilled five years 



