CULTURAL METHODS IN ORCHARDS 147 



Among the precautions to be observed with mulched 

 trees are: 



1. Protection from mice, rabbits, and other rodents. The 

 trees should be safeguarded by either a mechanical device 

 or by means of a protective wash, but the former is much 

 more reliable. Rodents are more likely to do damage in a 

 mulch or sod orchard than in a cultivated one because of the 

 harboring places. 



2. Fire is another ever-present danger and provision 

 should be made for firebreaks by having a bare space between 

 the bole of the tree and the mulching material. On a young 

 tree this area should be about a foot in radius and as the 

 tree becomes older it should gradually be increased to three 

 feet. A mound of coal cinders about the tree is also advis- 

 able for this same purpose. 



128. Production of mulch material. — One of the problems 

 in a large grass mulch orchard is to secure sufficient material 

 for mulching. As much as possible is secured in the orchard, 

 but as the trees become older the amount available becomes 

 less. In some sections oats and wheat stubble is mowed 

 about two or three weeks following the cutting of the grain 

 and in this way a large amount of material is secured. 

 Others procure hay, straw, or the like for the purpose. 



One of the striking results secured by the Ohio Experi- 

 ment Station ^ was the effect of fertilizers on the increased 

 growth of grass in the orchard, which solved the mulch prob- 

 lem. It was found that when acid phosphate was used, alone 

 or in combination with potash, a striking increase in growth 

 of the clovers resulted without any seeding whatever. When 

 nitrogen was used alone or in combination, the clovers were 

 crowded out by the timothy, blue-grass, red-top, and in 

 some cases orchard-grass, which took possession of the land. 



iBallou, F. H. Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 301. 1916. Also Bull 

 339. 1920. p. 16. 



