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 fi-uit 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 



Fia. 35. — Mowing the grass in a sod orchard. The difficulty comes in resisting the temp- 

 tation to rake it and put it in the barn. 



earlier in the season the maturity which favors coloring in the 

 autumn. Cultivated orchards sometimes are given too late culti- 

 vation or othei-wise 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 



