242 
and thereby extend the feeding area, es- 
pecially in hard, impenetrable soil. 
3. It is a greater tonnage producer 
under irrigation than the clover. 
My own experiences, while confined to 
a few fields, have been very much in fa- 
vor of clover so far as removing the 
mulch and tree growth was concerned, 
but favorable to alfalfa from the stand- 
point of tonnage and subdividing and pre- 
paring the soil for orchard purposes. I 
would not seed alfalfa, or clover for that 
matter, if I seeded at all, closer than 
four feet from the young trees and then 
preserve thorough tillage between the 
alfalfa and the trees. As the trees grow 
older I should extend the area of culti- 
vation from one to two feet each year, 
until the whole was receiving clean till- 
age. 
Mulch Lessons From the Season of 
1910—Between April 15th and September 
15th we had less than one-half an inch 
of rainfall in Eastern Washington. The 
weather otherwise, while dry, was not 
seriously hot, and there were very few 
strong winds. In the grass mulch experi- 
ments we had a great number of the more 
coramon varieties of apples. But inas- 
much as the Ben Davis is probably bet- 
ter known than any other variety I de- 
sire to use it as an illustration. Kindly 
remember that the soil was uniform and 
that no irrigation was used. 
Plot i-—Old alfalfa plot, 14-year-old 
trees, fruit one inch in diameter, poorly 
eolored and badly wilted at harvesting 
time. 
Plot 2—Ben Davis variety, but in grass 
and weed plot; fruit one and one-half 
inches in diameter, of fair color, but 
poorly developed; not wilted. 
Plot 8—Ben Davis variety, old clover 
field, trees 14 to 15 years of age, fruits 
two inches in diameter, well colored, 
fairly good texture and fair crop. 
Plot 4—Ben Davis, 11-year-old trees, 
given first-class care, clean tillage; fruit 
three and one-half tier, well colored and 
good texture. As good a crop as one 
could desire. 
While this little experiment proves 
much for Eastern Washington, it does not 
settle the problem for other parts of the 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
Northwest; yet it does show that where 
summer moisture is the main tactor, we 
must practice, almost if not entirely, noth. 
ing less than clean culture. 
After visiting hundreds of orchards last 
year in Western Washington during the 
dry season I am convinced that our prob. 
lems of fruit culture are identical so far 
as cultivation is concerned; yet there are 
conditions under which it is advisable to 
use a grass mulch of some sort or other, 
and I would enumerate as possible con- 
ditions the following: 
1. Where the soil is so rich as to cause 
the trees to produce wood at the expense 
of the fruit. Pears, cherries. 
2. Where the soil is otherwise too 
wet. 
3. In loose, shifting soils that must 
be held down to prevent blowing 
4. On rocky soils that cannot be ecul- 
tivated. 
5. And finally when the owner is too 
lazy to cultivate and wants a feasible 
reason for not doing so. 
Absolutely Clean Tillage—This is the 
direct reaction of no tillage, and comes 
as all reforms do at the swing of the pen- 
dulum to the opposite pole. It is very 
valuable in certain soils where everything 
is sacrificed for moisture, but needs care- 
ful guarding, as it is more liable to in- 
jure the soil than any other method of 
tillage. 
The constant working of the soil and 
never permitting anything to grow upon 
it, while valuable for the conservation 
of moisture, materially fines it, thereby 
making it wash and gully on sloping 
land, and exposes a bare surface to the 
hot summer sun. This destroys the 
humus, causing the soil to cement and 
puddle much more readily than it nor- 
mally should. 
The loss of the organic content of soil 
in four distinct ways, i. e.: 
1. Destroys granulation or friability. 
2. Lessens water holding capacity. 
3. Lowers the temperature in spring, 
and raises it in the summer. 
4. Makes it impossible for the air to 
permeate the soil, thereby hinders nitri- 
fication and prevents the escape of car- 
bon dioxide. 
