Vol. LXVIII No. 4017. NEW YORK, OCTOBER 23, 1909. weekly, $i.oo per year. 
THE STUDY OF A MULCHED ORCHARD. 
A Visit to the Hitchings Farm. 
Part i. 
Two years ago I went to Monroe Co., N. Y., to 
see the orchard which the Geneva Experiment Sta¬ 
tion had taken for an experiment in tillage. One-half 
of that apple orchard had been left in sod with the 
grass cut once and left to rot upon the ground. The 
other half had been thoroughly cultivated and a crop 
of clover seeded in late Summer as a catch crop. 
There could be no doubt that as between these two 
methods the cultivated part of the orchard was ■su¬ 
perior. The foliage was heavier and darker colored, 
the wood growth was larger and the fruit was larger. 
Parts of the sod orchard were better than others but, 
taken as a whole, the cultivated part was clearly 
superior. The Geneva Station gave the records of 
the experiment, and has argued from it that culture 
is always better than 
mulching, making, ap¬ 
parently, no distinction 
whatever. This position 
has been criticized by a 
number of fruit growers, 
many of whom have 
been highly successful 
with orchards that never 
were plowed or cultiva¬ 
ted. They feel that the 
other side should be pre¬ 
sented. While visiting 
the State Fair at Syra¬ 
cuse, on September 16, I 
went to see the orchards 
of Grant Hitchings. My 
desire is to discuss those 
mulched orchards as 
fairly as the Western 
New York orchard was 
studied two years ago. 
These orchards are lo¬ 
cated 10 miles out of 
Syracuse on the south 
side of a deep valley. 
T his part of Onondaga 
County is quite rolling, 
well watered and natur¬ 
ally strong soil. The or¬ 
chard in Western New 
York described two years' 
ago lies in a comparative¬ 
ly flat section, but the 
Hitchings orchards are 
for the most part on steep hills with a northern ex¬ 
posure. I should judge that the soil here is naturally 
.stronger and more inclined to hold moisture than 
that in Western New York. This is a natural Alfalfa 
section. One of the most interesting things to me 
was the view across the valley, showing great patches 
of dark green on all the farms. These green patches 
were Alfalfa fields, and contrasted with the dead¬ 
looking grass fields or the fresh plowed ground they 
made the hillsides look like great checker boards. 
I speak of this to make clear what I think is the 
great foundation of Mr. Hitchings’s success. This 
is a natural grass section—more so I think than that 
of the contrasting orchard. I think success with the 
mulch method depends very largely upon this sort of 
natural grass land. Mr. Hitchings has in all about 
14,000 trees, most of them still young, and bearing 
a little fruit for the first time this year. 
Let us first take up the human and financial sides 
of the orchard, for after all, these are the things that 
count. These trees have been planted right in the 
sod—without plowing, cultivating, manuring or fer¬ 
tilizing. The theory followed in their care has been 
that the grass will obtain considerable amounts of 
plant food from the soil, and that, left to decay on 
top of the ground, it will feed the trees and also 
hold moisture for them. Mr. Hitchings figured that 
this plan of feeding hay to a tree would on his 
■soil, give satisfactory growth. He also figured that 
the labor required to cultivate his hillsides properly 
could be more profitably employed at other crops. 
Therefore the scheme of the farm was to leave the 
hillsides in trees—cutting the grass whenever most 
convenient—and to put the strong, level land into 
small fruit, peas, potatoes and similar crops, which 
were expected to keep the farm going while the 
trees were coming to fruiting. As all who have 
grown fruit and read or heard what the experts have 
to say well know, this plan is a radical one. It 
would naturally require a man with strong faith 
to go ahead in the face of opposition, if not ridicule, 
THE MOTOR CAR TRUCK IN FRUIT CULTURE. Fig. 507. 
and carry the plan through. Mr. Hitchings has felt 
sure of success from the first, and this confideitce 
was shared by his wife and family. Any farmer will 
know how this moral support and full confidence will 
help develop a well-laid plan. The development of 
an orchard in this way is what I call the human side 
of the business. The financial side ought to be con¬ 
sidered too, because when the earth gives , a man 
home and competence and more he may well feel 
that prosperity comes with an obligation. 
A few years back a well-known scientist told me 
that Mr. Hitchings would find it absolutely necessary 
to plow and cultivate his trees in order to save them. 
This man claimed after a visit to the orchard that 
the trees were not growing properly and that the 
mulch was a failure. I think he fully believed what 
he said. At about the same time a fruit-grower 
predicted financial failure for Mr. Hitchings because 
he said these trees in sod would surely fail to grow 
to fruiting. In reply to the latter statement Mr. Hitch¬ 
ings showed me his figures. The farm is paid for, 
the home and the family have been well provided 
for, and there is good money in the bank—and there 
are 14,000 vigorous apple trees in bearing or at the 
point of fruiting. You remember that Mr. Hitchings 
plans to let the trees grow in their own way—putting 
the labor of teams and men on the lower level land. 
Last year he sold $4,039.42 worth of strawberries, 
peas, potatoes and similar crops from those lower 
fields. The total cost of all labor and all seeds and 
materials was $2.077.34—a net income of $1,962.08. 
In addition to this about $2,000 worth of apples 
were sold. A few items of expense are fertilizers 
$27.68, spraying materials $92.86, seeds $87.53, labor 
$1,160.60. A good share of this labor expense went 
to members of the family. Now let us understand 
first that practically all the labor put on these 14,000 
trees outside of pruning, spraying and picking was 
once mowing the grass. This was done at odd times 
through the Summer, when other work was not 
pressing. Instead of plowing and cultivating in the 
orchard the two farm 
teams were kept at work 
on the level part of the 
farm, and hauling pro¬ 
duce to Syracuse. We 
see that this labor gave 
a net) returir of $1,962.08. 
I fere is the first argu¬ 
ment for a mulched or¬ 
chard. In order to plow 
and cultivate these trees 
as the experts demand 
at least four teams and 
a small gang of work¬ 
men would have been 
needed. There would 
have been no income in 
return for this labor, for 
many of the trees are 
not yet in bearing. By 
leaving the trees in sod 
Mr. Hitchings has been 
able to employ his labor 
at more profitable work, 
make the farm pay while 
the orchard is develop¬ 
ing and do a great share 
of it all with the labor 
of his own family. 
But what about the 
trees—have they suf¬ 
fered ? .We shall describe 
their condition as fairly 
See page 922. as we can Last year 
• they gave $2,000 worth 
of apples and this year the crop is estimated at $3,000. 
Now this way of handling an orchard will not ap¬ 
peal to all fruit growers, yet many are so situated 
that they will see tl^e point at once. It seems to me 
a fair criticism that the Geneva Station bulletin on 
apple culture is an argument for cultivation rather 
than an effort to bring out all the facts. I think it 
a fair way to approach the subject, by admitting 
that Mr. Hitchings has made a success of his enter¬ 
prise. It is certainly a financial success thus far, 
and there is evidence that this success will continue. 
These things being so the fair thing is to admit them 
and then see if we can find what is responsible for 
the success. Is there something peculiar about this 
location and soil? Is it safe to advise this mulch 
method for general use? Naturally I have my own 
opinion about these things, based upon our own 
experience in sod culture, but I want to give the 
facts about the Hitchings orchard just as they are. 
No one should claim that there are any cast-iron 
rules that must necessarily be followed in fruit grow¬ 
ing. H. W. C. 
