APPLES 



237 



It has been about as clearly demon- 

 strated that alfalfa and clover are not 

 good for peaches, as that it is good for 

 apples and pears. Just why this is true 

 is not with certainty decided. Some sug- 

 gest that it is because they furnish the 

 soil with too much nitrogen. Others 

 that it is because of the different root- 

 ing habits of peaches, the roots being 

 nearer the surface and tending to grow 

 laterally. Whatever may be the reasons, 

 it seems sure that peaches do not do 

 well in orchards sown to alfalfa. 



Gr.\xvii.i:.e Lowther 



CULTURE VERSUS SOD MULCH 

 West Tirsinia View Point 



There are strong advocates of both 

 cultivation and mulching as methods of 

 orchard management, and strong argu- 

 ments may be advanced in favor of each. 

 As a result of personal observation, ex- 

 tending over a period of more than ten 

 years, the writer would favor cultiva- 

 tion upon those lands which are sus- 

 ceptible of culture, without unnecessary 

 expense, and mulching upon all other 

 lands. What that cultivation shall be. 

 and what that mulch shall be will of 

 course be determined by local conditions. 



By the advocates of "sod-culture" it is 

 claimed that, by setting free too much 

 nitrogen, cultivation renders the wood 

 spongy and the fruit soft. It is also 

 claimed, and not without apparent rea- 

 son, that certain varieties, like Alexan- 

 der and Yellow Transparent, which are 

 subject to blight, exhibit a marked in- 

 crease of this blight tendency under cul- 

 tivation. This condition is supported by 

 Mr. George T. Powell, himself an advo- 

 cate of high culture. 



There is no doubt that fruit from trees 

 not under cultivation is of higher color, 

 and usually of firmer texture. That it 

 will always keep better in storage, how- 

 ever, has not been fully proved.* 



The general principles involved in the 

 two methods are very simple. In the 



• See Bulletin 122. Maine Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, p- 200. 1903. 



mulching, the aim is to accumulate all 

 of the vegetable matter possible in the 

 soil; thus not only feeding the plant, 

 but holding the moisture as well. Under 

 cultivation, the organic matter is used as 

 rapidly as possible and more is added in 

 the way of cover crops and green manures. 



W. M. Muxsox, 

 Morgantown, W. Va. 



TILLAGE VERSUS SOD MULCH 



>'ew York View Point 



Early in the history of orcharding in 

 New York it had been the custom dur- 

 ing the first six or eight years to grow 

 crops with tillage between the trees, after 

 which the orchard was seeded down to 

 grass and used for pasture or hay. The 

 orchards were in many cases unproduc- 

 tive and, the owners despairing of the 

 method, a reaction set in toward "tillage 

 and cover crops. ' During the last decade, 

 however, some excellent results in "sod 

 mulch" orchards led to a second reaction 

 to the latter method with a wide dis- 

 cussion of the problems involved. 



The New York State Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station at Geneva secured in 

 1904 the use of an apple orchard at South 

 Greece, near Rochester, in order to throw 

 some light upon this question and to dem- 

 onstrate the comparative value of the two 

 methods under the conditions existing in 

 those places, and to discover, if possible, the 

 reasons for the results that might appear. 

 The experiment was to run for 10 years 

 in order to secure fair average results. 

 Five years have now passed and it may 

 be of interest to note the progress of the 

 work to the present time (1910). 



The orchard at South Greece, seven 

 miles west of Rochester, is owned by Mr. 

 W. D. Auchter. It consists of nine and 

 one-half acres of Baldwins set in 1877, the 

 trees standing 40 feet apart each way. 

 The surface soil is a medium heavy clay 

 loam. The subsoil is of heavier loam 

 yet containing enough sand or gravel to 

 make it porous so that the trees do not 

 suffer from lack of under-drainage. The 

 surface is nearly level. This orchard is 

 typical of many of the commercial or- 



