238 
chards scattered throughout Western 
New York. 
Plan of Experiment—The orchard was 
divided into two equal divisions, one- 
half kept in sod—the other half plowed 
early in the spring, receiving from four 
to six cultivations during the summer 
until the last of July or early in August, 
at which time a cover crop of clover or 
oats was sown. The grass on the sod 
half of the orchard was cut once or twice 
each year as occasion required and was 
allowed to rot where it fell. The spray- 
ing, pruning and fertilizing treatments 
were same on each plat. 
The following is a statement of some 
of the results obtained with both tree 
and fruit. 
The average annual yield on the sod 
plat for the five years was 72.9 barrels 
per acre; for the tilled plat 109.2 barrels 
—a, difference of 36.3 barrels in favor of 
the tilled plat. 
There was a marked difference in size 
of fruit, requiring an average of 434 
apples per barrel for the fruit from sod 
and 309 apples for the fruit from the 
tilled trees; the fruit from sod trees 
averaged 5.01 ounces and the fruit from 
cultivated trees 7.04 ounces. 
The fruit from the sod mulch plat was 
of better color than that on the tilled 
plat—it matured from one to three weeks 
earlier; it was inferior in crispness, in 
juiciness, in flavor and in quality. 
The average gain in diameter of trunk 
for the trees in sod was 1.1 inches; for 
the trees under tillage, 2.1 inches. 
The average annual growth of twigs of 
the trees in sod was 3.4 inches; of the 
tilled trees, 6.7 inches. The total weight 
of 240 twigs from sod trees was 7.2 
pounds; from trees under tillage, 21.3 
pounds. 
The leaves on the sod trees were yel- 
lowish—on the tilled trees a dark, rich 
green. 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
Financial Statement 
The average annual cost per acre, not 
including harvesting, was $17.92 for Sod, 
and $24.47 for tillage—a difference of 
$6.55 in favor of sod. 
The average net income per acre from 
sod was $71.52, and from tillage, $110.43. 
thus giving an increase due to tillage of 
54 per cent. 
Causes of Difference 
Moisture—The soil to the depth of one 
foot showed as the average of 120 mois. 
ture determinations 156.24 tons water for 
sod; 235.98 tons water for tillage—an in- 
crease of nearly 80 tons in favor of till- 
age. 
Temperature—At a depth of 12 inches 
the average temperature for sod was 65 
degrees; for tillage, 67 degrees—differ- 
ence of two degrees in favor of the soil 
under cultivation. 
Humus—The amount of humus in the 
soil to a depth of six inches was 19.98 
tons per acre for the sod plat and 21.78 
tons for the tillage—an increase of 1.8 
tons in the soil under cultivation. 
The facts presented include the essen- 
tial features of what happened in an apple 
orchard under a tillage system and under 
a system of sod mulch. The soil, the 
trees and the fruit have each in turn told 
their story, and the evidence is before 
you. Yet it must be kept in mind that 
the results do not prove that tillage under 
all conditions is the only proper method 
of procedure. Every orchard has its 
special problems and every apple grower 
has a problem of his own. Any method 
to succeed must be adapted to local con- 
ditions. 
The following table will show the rela- 
tive values of the two methods of sod and 
clean cultivation. It will be seen that in 
all but two instances in each case the 
average yield and average income is 
greater in the case of “tilled” than of 
“sod” orchards where the method of cul- 
ture has extended over the same number 
‘of years. 
