52 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



So much for the theoretical side. How does cultivation work 

 out in practice? I can do no better than call your attention to a 

 chart showing the results of cultivation in a New York orchard.* 



The orchard in question is located in Monroe County. It con- 

 sists of nine and one-half acres of trees 32 years old. In the 

 spring of 1904 this orchard was divided into two equal parts 

 by a line run through the middle. One-half was plowed and 

 cultivated. In the other half the grass was allowed to grow 

 and was later cut and left as a nuilch. This afforded much bet- 

 ter conditions for the trees than the method commonly prac- 

 ticed of cutting the grass and hauling it off, for what was re- 

 moved from the soil during the summer was returned in the fall. 

 This treatment was kept up in the two halves of the orchard for 

 six years with these results : 



Sod Cultivation Difference 



Average yield per acre 73 bbl. 109 bbl. 36 bbl. 



Cost of maintenance $18.00 $24.50 $6.50 



The average cost of maintenance per acre in the uncultivated 

 part w^as about $18 per season. In the cultivated area it was 

 about $24.50 per season. It cost just $6.50 per acre per year 

 to plow and harrow and till and sow cover crops in the one 

 part of the orchard. The average yield per acre per year from 

 the part in sod was 72.9 barrels, from the part that was cul- 

 tivated 109.2. The average difference per acre per year in 

 favor of cultivation was 36.3 barrels. At $1 per barrel the 

 orchard in sod would bring back a return of $73 per acre, giv- 

 ing a difference in favor of tillage of $36. In other words at 

 that price an investment of $6 an acre was made each year and 

 5 months later $36 was returned. I ask you, does it pay? $1 

 per barrel is a very low price for apples, however. Suppose 

 they averaged $3 per barrel. The cost of cultivation would be 

 the same, the net return from cultivation 3 times as large or 

 $108 per acre per year. Again I ask you, does it pay? How 



♦Hedrick: Bui. 314, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. 



