128 THE APPLE 



Other fruits than the apple are probably harmed quite as much 

 or more by sod. 



The effects of grass occur regardless of variety, age of tree, or 

 cultural treatment, and are felt whether the trees are on dwarf 

 or standard stocks. 



Because of their shallow root systems, dwarf trees are even more 

 liable to injury from grass than standards. 



Hogs,' sheep, or cattle pastured on sodded orchards do not over- 

 come the bad effects of the grass. 



Owners of sodded orchards often do not discover the evil effects 

 of the grass because they have no tilled trees with which to make 

 comparisons. 



It is only under highest tillage that apple trees succeed in 

 nurseries, and all the evidence shows that they do not behave differ- 

 ently when transplanted. 



Grass left as a mulch in an orchard is bad enough. Grass 

 without the mulch is all but fatal, as it makes the trees sterile and 

 paralyzes their growth. It is the chief cause of unprofitable 

 orchards in New York. 



The work of the Ohio Experiment Station in a comparison of 

 different methods of culture as applied in the care of an apple 

 orchard is also very interesting. They began the experiment in 

 the spring of 1900, planting a block of 160 apple trees, eight rows 

 of trees with twenty trees in each row. The trees were divided 

 crosswise into four plots of forty trees each. Each individual plot 

 is an exact duplicate of varieties and the order in which they stand. 

 The soil upon which these trees are grown is quite uniform as to 

 fertility and general character. The surface of the soil slopes 

 gently toward the west, therefore affording good natural drainage. 

 The plots are as follows : 



No. 1 is a cover-crop plot, No. 2 a continuous clean-culture plot, 

 No. 3 a sod-culture plot, No. 4 a sod-mulch or grass-mulch plot. 



Plot No. 2, the continuous culture plot, after four seasons' trial, 

 was abandoned as a practice not to be considered in connection 

 with careful orchard culture, the reason being brought about by the 

 erosion of tons of soil, exposing the roots of the trees in numerous 

 places, breaking up the surface by yawning gulleys, and hindering 

 the work of the team in passing through this orchard. 



