SOD CULTURE 



79 



is usually smaller than that grown under cultivation, which 

 means a more solid flesh that naturally does not break down so 

 soon. While keeping quality is not so important as it was when 

 storage facilities were poorer, still it is certainly worth 

 considering. 



3. The fruit is more highly colored. Probably this will hold 

 good as a general rule because the tree under sod culture is 

 likely to ripen up more quickly and the fruit is therefore given 



FIG. 35. Mowing the grass in a sod orchard. The difficulty com* 

 tation to rake it and put it in the barn. 



in resisting the temp- 



the maturity which favors coloring in the autumn. Cultivated 

 orchards sometimes are given too late cultivation or otherwise 

 supplied with too much nitrogen, which favors- late growth and 

 consequently poor color. Also the foliage on trees that are 

 cultivated is usually more dense, which in itself will retard 

 coloring by keeping off the sun. 



4. Trees can be headed lower when grown in sod. This may 

 or may not be true. If the reasons for low heading already 

 given are accepted it probably makes little difference whether 



