54 THE COXXECTICUr POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



up against it and that I would not come out even. \\'e cleared 

 $175; there \\as no sooty blotch on any of them. The next 

 year he put a spraying apparatus at work and cleared $1,300 

 on these two orchards. Some of you think you can't grow 

 apples where it is low and moist, but yuu can and you can 

 keep the sooty blotch or fungus off, for I have done it, with 

 spraying, but you can't do it by spraying once or twice. You 

 must spray four or five times. 



Practice some of these things. If you do people will be 

 better pleased with your fruit and \\ill have a keener apprecia- 

 tion of your work as a fruit grower. 



Now about the sod mulcli business. • We put what manure 

 we have to spare on our orchards and then we buy straw and 

 haul it seven miles, baled straw to make mulch. The Experi- 

 ment Station made a test regarding the straw ; they bought the 

 straw and we did the work ; the straw costing- about $8 a ton 

 paid a handsome profit on the investment. 



A Member: How many tons did you use to an acre? 



Mr. Cox : As a general thing about one bale. 75 pounds, 

 to a tree; I never figured how much to an acre, but we didn't 

 put on enough, it settled down so much. 



We have practicall}' the same conditions under mulch as 

 Mr. Hale has under his cultivation. You look under the 

 leaves in the forest and there you will find decayed vegetation ; 

 that ground is moist and is never dry. Forest trees grow out 

 of the moist earth ; you can't have available fertility without 

 moisture. You have both there. Now with apple trees we 

 want the same conditions. That is the reason we are using 

 the sod mulch system in Ohio. I belie\-e here in Connecticut 

 you can use the same system to advantage. I know it is better 

 with us than cultivation, for I have tried both, and we cannot 

 cultivate. If we did we wouldn't have any land left, it would 

 all go down the river. 



A Member : At wdiat time do you mow your orchard ? 



Mr. Cox : We mow the orchard grass and clover real 

 early, the last week in May or early in June in Southern Ohio. 



A Member: How do you keep the mice away from the 

 trees ? 



Mr. Cox : A man pulls the nuilch away fron-i the base 



