77 



A Well Tilled Orchard. 



The latter ripening period of the fruit on the tilled plot Avould 

 be a defect with some varieties and in some localities but in general 

 in Xew York late ripening is an advantage. 



Fruit from both plots for the five years has been kept in cold 

 storage to test the relative keeping qualities. This work has been 

 in charge of 'Mr. G. H. Powell, the cold storage expert of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, who writes me in brief : "There 

 appears to have been little practical difi^erence in keeping quality 

 between fruit from sod land and fruit picked a few days later from 

 the tilled land." 



There is but little difi:"erence in the quality of the fruit when 

 specimens can be had at the same degree of maturity. But the tis- 

 sues of the sod-mulch fruit begin to break down so quickly after 

 harvesting that at any time after this period the tilled fruit is better 

 in quality. This has been true in all of the five seasons, a fact af- 

 firmed by repeated testing by those in charge of the experiment and 

 attested by many who have seen the fruit at the Geneva Station, at 

 horticultural meetings and at institutes. The more pleasing color 

 of the sod-mulch fruit leads many to think it is of higher quality 

 but it requires only a taste to convince to the contrary. 



