426 MANAGING ORCHARD SOILS AND FERTILIZING TREES 



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each year a system of sod mulch is practiced needs only to be 

 mown once in June and perhaps again in September. The 

 grass which is close to the trees may be cut with a scythe. 

 Soil management undoubtedly costs less in a sod orchard than 

 in a cultivated one. Table 45 indicates costs of all types in 

 - New York orchards during 1934, 1935, and 1936. 



In the Dale View Orchard in Licking County, Ohio, where 

 an orchard was in sod and mowed twice a year, the grass under 

 the trees being cut w^ith a scythe, the soil-management cost 

 was 3 cents per bushel. 



In the Germantown-Red Hook and Kinderhook area of the 

 Hudson Valley in 1931, in 519 orchards where both systems 

 of soil management were practiced, it cost $4.02 per acre or 

 4 cents per bushel for soil management. 



2. Selecting the Implements for Soil Management. For 

 sod orchards about the only implement necessary is a good 

 mow^ing machine. In young orchards a hay rake is also neces- 

 sary for raking up the cut material so that it can be piled 

 about the trees. 



In cultivated orchards, the size of the orchard determines 

 largely whether a team and ordinary w^alking plow will be used 

 or w^hether a tractor and gang plow can be operated profitably. 

 Some of the things which will influence the selection of a trac- 

 tor are: (1) its cost, (2) topography of the land, (3) the type 

 of soil, and (4) the horsepower developed. On hillside ground, 

 tractors with a caterpillar tread will usually be found most 

 satisfactory. If the soil is a heavy one, and particularly if 

 the grower desires to pull an extra wide (16-foot) orchard 

 disk, the horsepower developed by the tractor is an important 

 consideration. 



In addition to the above factors, an orchard tractor should 

 be as low as possible with practically no levers, exhaust pipes, 

 or other mechanical parts projecting up into the air to catch in 

 or injure the branches. The wheels should be covered with 

 fenders to protect the branches, and arrangements for offset 

 hitches should be made. Implements can then be hooked to 



