APPLES 241 
py premature fall frosts or suffer need- 
lessly from cold winter weather. 
Bearing apple trees, on the other hand, 
will need cultivation in most cases up to 
the time the fiuit is picked, since the 
trees draw very heavily upon the soil as 
the fruit is maturing. The time for ceas- 
ing cultivation with bearing trees will be 
determined by the general condition of 
the tree and fruit. Cultivation influences 
the color and size and often the form of 
the fruit, the amount of juice, and has a 
marked influence on the percentage of 
drop of the fruit. 
C. I. LEwIs 
Cultivation from a Washington View 
Point 
Sod Mulch—The grass, clover, weed or 
alfalfa sod mulch system is a relic of 
primitive horticulture handed down to us 
like many other relics, to be taken as it 
is without investigation. 
It is an outgrowth of neglect rather 
than a development of thought, and comes 
through such reasoning as this: If Ore- 
gon fir and Washington pine have grown 
to such size on these lands without cul- 
ture, why shouldn’t fruit trees do the 
same? The difference is that nature takes 
hundreds of years and millions of trees 
to produce a few big trees, while man 
takes a few years and a handful of small 
switches to develop an orchard. We can- 
not afford to pattern after nature in this 
matter, but must assist her by conserving 
moisture, making plant food available 
and removing the offenders, whether they 
be weeds or other trees. 
The grass mulch system has merits for 
certain conditions, and while it is occa- 
sionally good, is a much abused practice. 
This abuse in our state shows most 
strongly on the west side of the Cascades, 
but it is not wholly lacking on the east. 
Under various conditions the grass mulch 
system takes on varied modifications. 
Some growers permit weeds and grass 
to grow at will in the orchard all sum- 
mer long, only to be mashed down in 
spring with harrow, light disc and clod 
masher. The only remarkable feature 
about these orchards is that some of them 
are giving fair returns. The probable 
reason for the returns is that available 
plant food and moisture are only sec- 
ondary considerations in these soils. On 
other soils the method would be an ab- 
solute failure. 
Another group of growers permit this 
mulch to grow until mid-summer, when 
it is mowed down and placed around the 
trees to act as a mulch, in the true sense, 
to conserve moisture, ameliorate the soil 
and add plant food. The grass mulch 
system as practiced in this manner on 
rich, deep, moist soil will prove a suc- 
cess in orchard work, provided the trees 
are fairly well established before the sys- 
tem is put into operation. Remember 
again, however, that the moisture prob- 
lem is taken care of by plenty of rain 
or frequent irrigation. 
A third group of growers cut the mulch 
and use it for hay or, worse still, pasture 
the orchard without practicing fertilizer 
returns. <A friend recently sold from one 
acre of ground $1,200 worth of apples and 
four tons of alfalfa hay. In addition he 
pastured a cow and 50 chickens for three 
months on the same acre. 
Clover Versus Alfalfa Mulch 
Considerable discussion has arisen 
lately relative to the comparative merits 
and demerits of the two plants, alfalfa 
and clover, which are most commonly 
used as grass mulch plants in the West. 
Each has a strong following amongst our 
best fruitgrowers, and consequently must 
have merits of note under favorable con- 
ditions. 
Those championing clover attribute the 
following advantages to its growth: 
1. Being a comparatively shallow 
rooted plant, its roots do not feed in the 
same plane as the roots of bearing trees. 
2. It adds more fiber and plant food 
to the first 18 inches of the soil. 
3. It is an easy plant, as compared 
with alfalfa, to destroy when the time 
comes to remove the mulch. 
Those championing the use of alfalfa 
contend that it is best because it has the 
following characteristics: 
1. Being a naturally deep-rooted plant 
it goes below the apple root plane. 
2. While it adds a small amount of 
fiber, its roots work deep into the soil 
