440 Report oF THE HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
plants are so sparse in numbers and so scant in growth as. 
scarcely to cover the ground. Because of the differences noted 
the sods in any two orchards are unlike—a fact that must be 
kept in mind in applying the results of this experiment. 
The treatment of the sod in the orchards of this State varies 
greatly. Some orchardists remove the growth of grass as 
hay; others cut it as a mulch for the ground; still others sup- 
plement the natural growth of the land with additions of 
manure, straw or other organic matter to increase the amount 
of mulch. The great majority of the men in New York who 
grow apples in sod, however, pasture their orchards with sheep, 
pigs or cattle. 
INVESTIGATION OF METHODS OF ORCHARD MANAGEMENT NECESSARY, 
The tillage and the sod methods of managing orchards are 
so radically different that they cannot be equally good. One 
or the other is wrong in principle, except possibly in the rare 
exceptions which only go to prove the rule. Since tillage and 
sod culture are both largely practiced in New York, fruit 
growers should know their comparative merits that they may 
have assurance as to whether their practice is right or wrong. 
Then, too, there has been much talk in the State and country, 
pro and con, as to methods of orchard management without 
definite knowledge. In the discussion which has been going on, 
men for most part have been citing particular orchards,—iso- 
lated cases,—and not principles. It seems necessary to estab- 
lish by means of experimental evidence, principles that will ap- 
ply to orchards in general. Lastly, the men who deny the value 
of tillage for the apple are going counter to the established 
theories of agriculture; all admit that farm crops, vegetables, 
flowers, small fruits, vine fruits, and all tree fruits excepting | 
the apple, and possibly the pear, thrive best under tillage. If 
the apple differs from other cultivated plants in this respect, 
the phenonemon is most interesting and well worthy investi- 
gation. > ae 
