CULTURAL METHODS IN ORCHARDS 



155 



It is concluded from an experiment in the above orchard 

 that, "The results of 120 moisture determinations in the 

 Auchter orcliard show that the differences in tree growth 

 and crop in the two plots of this experiment are mainly due 

 to differences in moisture, the tilled plot having most mois- 

 ture. As a consequence of the reduced water supply in the 

 sod plot, there is a reduced food supply, for it is only through 

 the medium of free water that plants can take in food. 

 Analyses show that the difference between the actual amount 

 of plant food in the two plots are veiy small." 



Table XXXIV 



MOISTURE TO THE ACRE IN TILLED AND SOD PLOTS (aFTER HEDRICK) 



Thus, from these figures, it is concluded that moisture 

 is the limiting factor in fruit production and tree growth in 

 this orchard. 



On the other hand, the New Hampshire Station ^ de- 

 scribes an orchard in which moisture was as abundant in the 

 sod plot as in the adjoining tilled one, and hence was not 

 1 N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. BuU. 11. 1916. 



