New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 437 
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. 
During the dormant season there was a striking difference 
in the appearance of the new wood in the two plats. The new 
wood on the tilled trees was plumper and brighter in color indicat- 
ing better health. 
The amount of dead wood in the sod-mulch trees was much 
greater than in the tilled crees. 
The roots of the trees in the sod-mulch plat came to. the very 
surface of the ground. How much these trees suftered by the 
destruction of roots in the heat and drought of summer or the 
cold of winter cannot be said. In the tilled land the roots were 
_ found in greatest abundance ata depth of from ‘three to ten inches. 
The circumference of the toot 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 or to escape some evil effect of the grass roots. 
A fair way of comparing the quantity of the living roots of 
the trees in the two plats could not be found. 
The trees in the outside rows of the sod plat, where the roots 
could penetrate into the tilled land, without exception showed 
better health and greater productivity than the trees in the 
inner rows. 
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 $110.43, a difference of $38.91 in favor of tillage, 
an increase of 54 per ct. for tillage over the sod-mulch method 
of management. 
Tillage seems to be better than sod for the apple for the 
following reasons: 
The results of 120 moisture determinations in the Auchter 
orchard show that the differences in tree growth and crop in the 
