74 



" (8) To reduce the waste of plant-food materials through the 

 destruction of weeds and the prevention of their growth, through 

 prevention of surface washing and drifting by winds." 



It is impossible by any other means than tillage to obtain for 

 the apple the conditions enumerated above; soil uniformity; soil 

 depth or a commodious living room; an increase of humus; im- 

 proved physical condition of the soil ; conservation and regulation 

 of moisture; greater availability of plant food; a sanitary living 

 place, clean, drained, ventilated and sufficiently warm ; and the de- 

 struction of weeds. Are not these objects worth striving for with 

 any cultivated plant? 



I am fortunate, too, in being able to give the philosophy of the 

 sod-mulch and in the words of Mr. Grant Hitchings, who, as all 

 know has been one of the chief advocates of it. Mr. Hitchings 

 says : 



" This system gives one practically the whole Spring and Sum- 

 mer to grow and market other crops, while the orchard is growing 

 of its own accord a supply of vegetable matter for humus that all 

 authorities agree is so necessary for proper soil maintenance. This 

 means that you can do a good business without extra help, growing 

 strawberries, green peas, early potatoes, etc., and have the money 

 for the fruit in the fall to swell your bank account instead of paying 

 it out for fertilizers and cultivation. Other advantages are that you 

 can drive through your orchard to spray better on sod than on culti- 

 vated soil, as the latter sometimes gets muddy, and also washes 

 badly on rolling ground. You can allow your apples to mature 

 fully on the trees, for if they should fall on the grassy mulch nine- 

 tenths of them would be marketable. By making repeated gather- 

 ings the yield will be largely increased and quality improved. With 

 the mulch method you accumulate humus in your soil ; with clean 

 cultivation you burn it out or exhaust it." 



We are now ready for direct evidence as to the relative values 

 of tillage and sod-mulch for the apple. How do the systems of 

 management pan out in a commercial orchard? The orchard in 

 which the Geneva Station for five years tried the two methods is 

 located on the farm of Mr. W. D. Auchter, at South Greece, New- 

 York. The orchard consists of ten acres of Baldwin trees thirty 

 years old, five acres tilled, five acres in sod. The soil is a medium 

 heavy clay loam, rich, and containing enough gravel to make it por- 

 ous. It was selected as typical of the average orchard soil of West- 

 ern New York. The experiment being carried on is a broader one 

 than a simple trial of tillage and sod-mulch. The experimenters 

 hope to add something to what is now known about the food and 

 drink of trees — how trees take them in, make use of them, and with 

 what effects ; what influence soil temperature and soil ventilation 

 have on the development and function of tree roots ; and among 

 still other problems, what the relationships between grass and the 

 apple may be. 



It should be said too, that the experiment is to run ten years at 

 least and that the results now given cover but half the minimum 

 period and are therefore in some respects inconclusive and super- 



