THE AUCHTER ORCHARD EXPERIMENT. 
Prof. Hedrick Replies To Critics. 
The editor of The R. N.-Y. has given the readers 
of his paper an account of an experiment in orchard 
management carried on by the Geneva Experiment 
Station in the Auchter orchard at South Greece, N. Y. 
In the interesting discussion which lias followed sev¬ 
eral criticisms have been made, which the writer feels 
should be answered. The work in this orchard is 
to continue for several years, and it is hoped that 
the apple growers of the State will feel that it is con¬ 
ducted with as great a degree of accuracy and fair¬ 
ness as is possible with an experiment which involves 
so many and such diverse conditions. 
First of all, it should be said that the experiment 
is intended to cover' a broader field than the trial of 
sod-mulch and tillage, which is now being discussed. 
It is hoped that the experiments will add something 
to what is now known about the food and drink of 
trees—how the trees take them in, make use of them, 
and with what effects. The experimenters want to 
learn something about the influence of soil tempera¬ 
ture and soil aeration upon the development and 
function of tree roots. The effects of grass roots on 
tree roots is a much mooted question, and among the 
other problems, light is sought as to what the rela¬ 
tionships of these two plants may be. 
It should be said, too, that the experiment is to 
run 10 years at least, and that the results now given 
do not cover half the minimum period, and are there¬ 
fore in some respects inconclusive and superficial. For 
instance, the discussion now centers around the yield 
of fruit. While, of course, the crop is the ultimate 
criterion of orchard treatment, 
yet the effect upon the tree as 
indicated by the leaf, wood and 
root development is quite as im¬ 
portant an index of the value of 
tree treatment as the crop of 
fruit. A decade is about the 
least time that one should ex¬ 
pect to get definite results as to 
the effects of cultural methods 
on the tree. Nor is it possible 
to give all of the data now avail¬ 
able in newspaper articles. The 
reader is asked before drawing 
too sweeping conclusions to 
await the publication of a bul¬ 
letin from this station which 
will give all of the data so far 
obtained, as well as a fuller ac¬ 
count of the conditions surround¬ 
ing the experiment. 
Among the several criticisms 
of the experiment which have 
appeared in The R. N.-Y. we 
may first take up that of Mr. 
Hitchings. Mr. Hitchings con¬ 
tends that the orchard should 
have been for some time in sod 
to have made the test a fair one. 
In reply it can be said that the 
orchard was in sod, though the THE AUCHTER 
trees were not mulched, for 
most of the first 25 years of its life previous to its 
being taken for this experiment. The roots of the 
trees ought to have got used to sod during that time. 
I his experiment has been going four years now, and 
though we follow Mr. Hitchings’ system of mulch¬ 
ing, the trees are not yet “broken in” to taking their 
food and drink with grass. As the “breaking in” is 
telling badly on these trees we may well ask, how 
long will it take to make a sod-mulch orchard out of 
a tilled one? 
It should be of interest to know what happened in 
the Auchter orchard during the quarter century it was 
not tilled. Sometimes figures talk. At the end of the 
25 years in sod the Auchter orchard was sold to the 
present owner as common farm land. Its former 
owner had contemplated cutting it down as worthless. 
After several years of tillage the orchard is faying 
Mr. Auchter, for an average of a number of years, 
HOME OF W. A. AUCHTER, WESTERN N. Y. Fig. 45 
10 per cent on a valuation of $1,000 per acre. We 
should like to have the sod-mulchers match these fig¬ 
ures. There are many tilled orchards in western New 
York that can more than match them. 
Mr. Ballou of the Ohio Station, who says that bis 
institution is the “original official champion” of sod- 
mulch culture for the apple, claims that proper meth¬ 
ods of mulching have not been used in the Auchter 
orchard. It seems that the sod advocates divide up 
into several sects. 'I here are those who keep sheep on 
ORCHARD. LINE BETWEEN SOD AND MULCH. Fir.. 46 
the sod, others pigs, and still others cattle. Some 
simply cut the grass and allow it to remain on the 
ground; this is Mr. Hitchings’ system. Another sect 
says that the cut grass is not sufficient, and that straw 
or litter of some kind must be added to the grass 
mulch; this is the “original official” mulch, as' near as 
I can make out, of which the Ohio Station is “cham¬ 
pion.” In answer to Mr. Ballou’s criticism I have 
only to say that there are not many who follow the 
Ohio method in New York. Sod-mulchers in this 
State mostly follow Mr. Hitchings, and therefore this 
Station is testing his system. 
Mr. J. Allis of Medina thinks “It would have been 
a fairer test if the grass had been cut earlier—twice 
during the season, and raked and piled under the 
spread of the trees, instead of all over the ground.” 
In reply we can say that in two of the four years the 
experiment has been running the grass was cut twice, 
and without at all lessening the deleterious effect of 
the sod-mulch treatment on the trees. I am sure that 
Mr. Allis is wrong in advising that the grass be 
“raked and piled under the trees.” The roots of the 
trees in the Auchter orchard intermingle at all points, 
as they do in most old orchards, and a mulch should 
therefore cover the whole ground. Mr. Allis has a 
fine sod-mulch orchard, and a statement of the 
profits from his mulched trees would make a valuable 
contribution to the discussion. It would be interest¬ 
ing to sec how they compare with those published by 
I he R. N.-Y. from the tilled orchards of Mr. Tenny, 
Mr. Auchter and Mr. Northrup. 
In conclusion the reader is warned that particular 
cases do not warrant general conclusions. The 
Auchter experiment is in many respect a particular 
case, and the apple grower must bear in mind that 
under other conditions, his own perhaps, the trees 
might have behaved very differently. The Auchter or¬ 
chard was selected as being typical of western New 
York conditions, and the results obtained may there¬ 
fore be regarded as especially applicable to this region- 
But there are peculiarities of soil and location which 
might change them in western New York. Tt is a 
simple matter for an orchardist to plow up a part of a 
sodded orchard and cultivate it 
for a few years; or as easy for 
one who has a tilled orchard to 
lay a part of it down to grass, 
cutting the grass as a mulch, and 
in a few years he can see what 
happens. We want more ex¬ 
perimenters among fruit grow¬ 
ers, and these are good experi¬ 
ments to try when a man be¬ 
comes dissatisfied with the crops 
of apples he is getting. 
u. p. HEDRICK. 
R- N.-Y. —Mr. Ballou will fol¬ 
low with further argument for 
mulching. At Fig. 45 is shown 
Mr. Auchter’s home. One of 
the most striking things about 
this western New York apple 
country is the way farmers are 
building beautiful homes with all 
conveniences—and ; H out of 
apples. 
ASPARAGUS FACTS. 
The great and growing inter¬ 
est manifested in asparagus cul¬ 
ture necessarily brings to us 
many important questions; ques¬ 
tions that suggest an unusual ac¬ 
tivity among our eastern farm¬ 
ers, who are beginning to realize 
that a bed of asparagus is about the surest and per¬ 
haps as good paying crop as they can invest in. Of 
course, like every crop, there is always an element 
of uncertainty to the farmer, but there is surely less 
with the asparagus than with any crop with which I 
am acquainted. It may not be generally known, but it 
is nevertheless true that on very poor light soils, 
where it is quite impossible to grow such important 
crops as corn and potatoes, the asparagus will suc¬ 
ceed admirably, and give excellent returns. Farms 
