ORCHARDING WITH EARTHWORMS 81 



Our Deputy Farm Adviser is making a graph, consisting 

 of the sizes, grades, and amount of boxes covering the past 

 twenty years. When I receive these data, I will be glad to send 

 them to you if you so desire. Thank you for your interest in 

 my work. 



Very truly, 



(signed) FRANK HINCKLEY 



At the date of this writing, January of 1944, it is of in- 

 terest to point out that Mr. Hinckley had eliminated the plow 

 from his orcharding operations more than twenty years before 

 the appearance of Edward H. Faulkner's book, Plowman's Folly, 

 currently on its way to becoming a best seller. Since receiving 

 the above report from Mr. Hinckley, we have visited his place 

 a number of times and a good many interesting details have been 

 brought out, with many things not covered in his letter. One 

 of the most astonishing statements was made by him in answer 

 to our question, "How much money do you have invested in 

 machinery?" Mr. Hinckley replied: "I have thirty acres in 

 oranges in Hanford Loam and another grove near there. I be- 

 lieve my total investment in machinery is less than ten dollars, 

 consisting of hoes and rakes. A near neighbor, with thirty-two 

 acres of oranges, has over four thousand dollars' worth of ma- 

 chinery and hires an expert to operate it. I call in a Mexican 

 boy every other month and we go over my groves with hoe and 

 rake to eliminate the few weeds which come from seeds that 

 are blown in by the wind." 



Mr. Hinckley stated that after the initial change from the 

 old cultural methods, his labor costs were less. By use of the 

 hoe promptly to eliminate weeds, never allowing them to go 

 to seed, the orchard was soon practically free from weeds. No 

 tractors or machines are required in the non-cultivation method ; 

 therefore the trees do not need to be trimmed high. In Mr. 

 Hinckley's orchard the trees have been allowed to develop until 

 the limbs practically touch the ground, maintaining a dense shade 

 over the entire surface and an unfavorable environment for 



