APPLE ORCHARD SURVEY OF NIAGARA COUNTY. 



297 



suits than any of the other animals. Sheep rank second, while cows or 

 horses give the -poorest results of any. These latter results correspond 

 with those obtained in Orleans and Wayne counties, and tend to sup- 

 port the rapidly-developing principle that if one must pasture he should 

 use hogs rather than any other animals. 



VIII. YIELD IN BUSHELS WITH VARIOUS METHODS OF SOD TREATMENT 



THREE-YEAR AVERAGE PER ACRE: 



Pastured with hogs 138.3 bushels 



Pastured with sheep 129.6 bushels 



Pastured with cattle 83 . 6 bushels 



Not pastured 142.3 bushels 



A computation for Orleans County gave the following results : 



THREE-YEAR AVERAGE PER ACRE:* 



Pastured with hogs 312 bushels 



Pastured with sheep 308 bushels 



Pastured with cattle 153 bushels 



Not pastured 217 bushels 



Treatment in 1905 of mature orchards. In 1905 the mature orchards 

 were variously treated. A classification of treatment places the methods 

 under ten different headings (see Table IX). By far the largest number 

 of orchards, about 44 per cent, were tilled without cover-crops. The 

 next largest number or group, including 131 orchards of 1,167 acres, 

 which is 24.5 per cent, was in sod with the grass cut and left under the 

 trees. A few orchards were given cover-crops, and a small number 

 were used for hoed crops. 



The last group, receiving miscellaneous treatment, is made up of those 

 in which cultivation was given only to parts of the orchard, or in which 

 some pasturing and plowing, but without regular tillage, was the practice. 



* The three years are not the same in both cases, which undoubtedly accounts 

 in large measure for the difference in yields. 



