238 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



chards scattered throughout Western 

 New York. 



Plan of Experiment — The orchard was 

 divided into two equal divisions, one- 

 half kept in sod — the other half plowed 

 early in the spring, receiving from four 

 to six cultivations during the summer 

 until the last of July or early in August, 

 at which time a cover crop of clover or 

 oats was sown. The grass on the sod 

 half of the orchard was cut once or twice 

 each year as occasion required and was 

 allowed to rot where it fell. The spray- 

 ing, pruning and fertilizing treatments 

 were same on each plat. 



The following is a statement of some 

 of the results obtained with both tree 

 and fruit. 



The average annual yield on the sod 

 plat for the five years was 72.9 barrels 

 per acre; for the tilled plat 109.2 barrels 

 — a difference of 36.3 barrels In favor of 

 the tilled plat. 



There was a marked difference in size 

 of fruit, requiring an average of 434 

 apples per barrel for the fruit from sod 

 and 309 apples for the fruit from the 

 tilled trees; the fruit from sod trees 

 averaged 5.01 ounces and the fruit from 

 cultivated trees 7.04 ounces. 



The fruit from the sod mulch plat was 

 of better color than that on the tilled 

 plat — it matured from one to three weeks 

 earlier; it was inferior in crispness, in 

 juiciness, in flavor and in quality. 



The average gain in diameter of trunk 

 for the trees in sod was 1.1 inches; for 

 the trees under tillage, 2.1 inches. 



The average annual growth of twigs of 

 the trees in sod was 3.4 inches; of the 

 tilled trees, 6.7 inches. The total weight 

 of 240 twigs from sod trees was 7.2 

 pounds; from trees under tillage, 21.3 

 pounds. 



The leaves on the sod trees were yel- 

 lowish — on the tilled trees a dark, rich 

 green. 



Financial Statement 



The average annual cost per acre, not 

 including harvesting, was $17.92 for sod, 

 and $24.47 for tillage — a difference of 

 $6.55 in favor of sod. 



The average net income per acre from 

 sod was $71.52, and from tillage, $110.43, 

 thus giving an increase due to tillage of 

 54 per cent. 



Causes of Difference 



Moisture — The soil to the depth of one 

 foot showed as the average of 120 mois- 

 ture determinations 156.24 tons water for 

 sod; 235.98 tons water for tillage — an in- 

 crease of nearly 80 tons in favor of till- 

 age. 



Temperature — At a depth of 12 inches 

 the average temperature for sod was 65 

 degrees; for tillage, 67 degrees — differ- 

 ence of two degrees in favor of the soil 

 under cultivation. 



Humus — The amount of humus in the 

 soil to a depth of six inches was 19.98 

 tons per acre for the sod plat and 21.78 

 tons for the tillage — an increase of 1.8 

 tons in the soil under cultivation. 



The facts presented include the essen- 

 tial features of what happened in an apple 

 orchard under a tillage system and under 

 a system of sod mulch. The soil, the 

 trees and the fruit have each in turn told 

 their story, and the evidence is before 

 you. Yet it must be kept in mind that 

 the results do not prove that tillage under 

 all conditions is the only proper method 

 of procedure. Every orchard has its 

 special problems and every apple grower 

 has a problem of his own. Any method 

 to succeed must be adapted to local con- 

 ditions. 



The following table will show the rela- 

 tive values of the two methods of sod and 

 clean cultivation. It will be seen that in 

 all but two instances in each case the 

 average yield and average income is 

 greater in the case of "tilled" than of 

 "sod" orchards where the method of cul- 

 ture has extended over the same number 

 of years. 



