22 BULLETIN 499, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the trees to reestablish their root systems without checking the 

 growth. 



The foliage of the trees mulched with alfalfa and bean straw was 

 much denser and darker in color than that of the trees mulched with 

 barley and pine shavings, the latter trees being off color. The trees 

 mulched with sweet clover, bur clover, and manure were intermediate 

 in color and densit}' of foliage. 



While the values of the different mulching materials used in this 

 experiment can not be considered to be accurately represented by the 

 results shown in Table IX, their probable relative value is indicated. 

 In view of the corroborative results obtained in the Victoria tract it 

 would appear that alfalfa is decidedly more valuable for mulching 

 purposes than manure. It also appears from these tests that 150 

 pounds of alfalfa or 15 to 20 cubic feet of manure when applied to an 

 area of about 150 to 170 square feet will provide sufficient mulching 

 material to last one year and maintain an effective mulch during that 

 period. 



REDLANDS TRACT. 



A further comparison of the mulched-basin method with furrow 

 irrigation is afforded by a mulched grove near Redlands. This was 

 planted at the same time and w T ith the same stock as an adjoining 

 grove, and the two received uniform treatment for a time, but for 

 a number of years they have been handled independently. In 1913 

 a grove of 8 acres was basined by the owner and mulched with 

 alfalfa. The basins were small, scarcely including the drip of the 

 trees. Owing to the slope of the land, two basins were necessary for 

 each tree. The furrow rows were seeded to alfalfa at the time the 

 basins w T ere made, for the purpose of supplying mulching material. 

 The amount of alfalfa produced, however, was not even sufficient to 

 maintain a mulch in the small basins, and in the fall of 1915 the 

 alfalfa was plowed up. The seeding of the furrow rows to alfalfa 

 undoubtedly checked the growth of the trees somewhat by limiting 

 the moisture supply. Moisture determinations made immediately 

 after irrigation where alfalfa was growing showed that the irriga- 

 tion water penetrated only about a foot below the bottom of the 

 furrows. 



A 10-acre grove adjoining the 8-acre basined grove has through- 

 out been furrow irrigated and cultivated in the usual manner. 



While the basins were established in the 8-acre tract in 1913, their 

 effect on the set and yield of fruit would not be seen until the fol- 

 lowing year. The average yield of this tract in 1911 and 1913 (1912 

 being excluded on account of the freeze) was 4.9 boxes per tree, 

 compared with 3.2 boxes per tree on the 10-acre tract. 



