CULTURAL METHODS IN ORCHARDS 145 



2. The color of the fruit is usually higher and, therefore, 

 it has greater commercial value than when grown under 

 cultivation. Not all varieties are affected alike, however, 

 for some will develop a high color under tillage, 



3. The land is in better condition for spring operations 

 than when it has been plowed. This applies particularly 

 to heav}^ soils which do not drain readily. Also there may 

 be less winter-mjury in the sod orchard, 



4. The dropped fruit is of higher market value. 



5. Land too rocky to plow or to permit tillage may be 

 ulitized by following some type of the sod system. 



6. The expense of caring for the soil is reduced to little 

 or nothing, in some cases only the loss of the land for pas- 

 turage and many times not that, 



127. Grass mulch. — This method of handling an orchard 

 is an attempt to follow nature and allow litter to accumulate 

 in increasing proportion beneath the trees and thus conserve 

 moisture and add plant-food to the soil. It seems to have 

 been worked out simultaneously by F, P, Vergon of Delaware, 

 Ohio, and Grant Hitchings of Syracuse, New York. Both 

 of their orchards are commercially successful and many 

 have emulated the practice. 



As stated in the definition, the mulch system is limited 

 to the practice of placing sufficient mulch about the trees 

 partially or entirely to kill out the growth of grass beneath 

 them. This would not include the practice of mowing the 

 grass of the orchard and letting it lie where it falls, although 

 a partial mulch is thus accumulated after a few years, but 

 the grass still grows beneath the trees and thus the evil 

 effects of it are not obviated. This latter system has 

 been termed the "sod mulch" to distinguish it from grass 

 mulch. 



After the mulch system has been maintained for a few 

 years, the soil beneath the mulch becomes loose and friable, 



