APPLES 
them with a grubbing hoe. Even in such 
cases it would be better to break up the 
sod over the whole area and immediately 
reseed the land to clover. 
Sod Culture for New England 
This system in its most ruinous form 
is the one commonly practiced in New 
England, and is largely responsible for 
the unproductive condition of the ordi- 
pary farmer’s orchard. The apple spec- 
ialists, as a rule, favor the tillage sys- 
tem, yet there are many commercial 
growers who hold to some form of sod 
culture. The special advantage of sod 
culture is the possibility of producing 
fruit of better color, but this is probably 
offset by the possibility of increasing the 
yield by means of tillage. It is remark- 
able that fruit from sod orchards has 
earried off many of the premiums at 
recent fruit exhibitions in the Hast. This 
is especially true at fall fairs that are 
held too early for winter varieties grown 
under cultivation. The main purpose of 
growing apples, however, is not to win 
premiums and the man who tills his or- 
chard must get his reward in higher 
profits. The questions for the grower to 
settle are, which system is best suited 
to his conditions—his location, his soil, 
his markets, and his other interests— 
and which will give him the best return 
for the capital invested. 
There are probably many orchards in 
New England situated upon washy slopes 
where some form of sod culture is the 
only feasible method. It is probable, also, 
that many more of the rugged and washy 
hillsides will eventually be planted to. 
apples. This need not concern us now, 
however, for there are thousands of acres 
of ideal orchard land available in every 
state of New England, and so long as 
this condition prevails, it would seem ad- 
visable to select for orcharding land upon 
which the regular operations may be most 
conveniently and expeditiously performed. 
There is often more or less washing, how- 
ever, on some of the gentle slopes, es- 
pecially where the soil is of an imner- 
vious nature. Serious trouble from this 
cause usually may be prevented by cover 
cropping or by leaving strips of sod along 
245 
or between the rows of trees and at right 
angles to the slope. 
C. D. Jarvis, 
Storrs, Conn. 
TOOLS FOR ORCHARD CULTIVATION 
Steel Plow—One of the first tools which 
the orchardist needs is the ordinary 
steel turning plow. This is needed es- 
pecially in breaking up the hard soil at 
a greater depth than any other plow 
will break it; it is needed in turning 
under a coating of manure. If cover 
crops are grown it is needed in turning 
them under, and for cutting roots there 
is no other implement used in the orchard 
with which the work can be done so well. 
Fig. 1. A Single Dise of the Spade or Cut- 
away Type. 
Disc—Another implement is the disc, 
which does not turn the soil, but cuts 
it, loosens and stirs it. There are two 
kinds of discs in use—one of these, which 
is called the spade or cut-away disc, is 
cut into several sections and acts on the 
soil much after the manner of the hand 
spade. This implement is considered bet- 
ter on hard soils than the other, which 
is called the concave disc and cuts away 
the soil as it rolls over the ground in- 
stead of spading it. This is perhaps bet- 
ter on light, loose soils where there are 
no obstructions, but it is not good on 
rocky land, or on land where there is 
brush, weeds, pruning, or such like things 
on the surface, or on lands that are hard 
and compact. These discs are now so 
