New YorkK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 25 
keeps four weeks longer than that from the sod plat. In cold 
storage, the keeping quality of the two fruits is the same. The 
tilled fruit is decidedly better in quality, being crisper, more 
juicy and of better flavor. The advantage of tillage over the sod- 
mulch in the matter of uniformity of trees and crops is marked. 
The trees in sod showed abnormalities in foliage, branches, roots 
and particularly in fruit-bearing and in fruit characters. The 
average gain in diameter of trunk for the trees in sod for the 
five years was 1.1 inches; for the trees under tillage 2.1 inches; 
gain in favor of tillage, 1 inch. The dark, rich green color of the 
foliage of the tilled trees indicated that the tilled trees were in 
the best of health. The leaves of the tilled trees were much larger 
and much more numerous. Leaves from sodded trees and the 
same number (2,400) from tilled trees were weighed and gave 
8.7 grams as the average weight per leaf for the sodded trees and . 
11.5 grams for the tilled trees. The leaves of the tilled trees came 
out three or four days earlier and remained on the trees a week 
or ten days later than on the sodded trees. The average annual 
growth of branches for the sodded trees was 1.9 inches; for the 
tilled trees 4.4 inches. The average number of laterals per branch 
on the sodded trees was 3.4; on the tilled trees 6.7. The new 
wood on the tilled trees was plumper and brighter in color, indi- 
cating better health. The amount of dead wood in the sod-mulch 
trees was much greater than in the tilled trees. The roots of the 
trees in the sod-mulch plat came to the very surface of the ground. 
In the tilled land the roots were found in greatest abundance at 
a depth of from three to ten inches. The circumference of the 
root systems in the tilled trees is approximately circular, but the 
circumference of the roots of the trees in sod is very irregular, 
indicating a reaching out of a part of the roots in response to a 
demand for more moisture, food, or air. The average cost per 
acre for the two methods of management, not including harvesting, - 
was $17.92 for the sod; and $24.47 for tillage, giving a difference 
of $6.55 in favor of the sod. The average net income per acre 
for the sod plat was $71.52; for the tilled plat $110.48, a differ- 
