New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 533 
percentage of blossoms show that the tilled trees bear more 
blossoms than the sod trees and a count of apples in barrels of 
first-class fruit show an average of 434 fruits in a barrel of 
sod-mulch fruit and 309 for the tilled fruit; or, an average 
weight of 5.01 ounces for the sod apples and 7.02 ounces for 
the tilled. 
The one respect in which the sod-mulch fruit surpasses the 
tilled is in color. But since in every possible test the tilled 
trees are shown to be most vigorous, and since wounded, dis- 
eased, and decrepit trees always bear fruit of high color, it can 
be said that the bright color of the sod fruit is the hectic flush 
of disease or decrepitude. 
The fruit on the sod-plat matures from two to three weeks 
earlier than that on the tilled land and there is even a greater 
difference in the length of time the apples from the two plats 
will keep. ; 
The fruit from the tilled plat is crisper, juicier and better 
flavored, a fact many times affirmed by those in charge of the 
experiment and attested to by all of the many apple connois- 
seurs who have been asked to take a taste. 
The growth of trees is more uniform on the tilled plat than 
on the sod and the crops on the trees, both as to size and 
quantity of fruit, are more uniform. In commercial orchard- 
ing it is greatly to be desired that trees behave uniformly. 
In the long run the crop performance in an orchard measures 
vigor and health but in so short a period as five years we must 
know how the trees themselves are affected. The health and 
vigor of a tree is almost directly proportioned to the increase 
in the diameter of the trunk. The trees on the sod plat gained 
an average of 1.1 inches in diameter; on the tilled plat, 2.1 
inches. This is as clear cut and as accurate evidence as can 
be offered. 
The annual growth of new wood on an apple tree is a most 
important criterion because it measures both the vigor and the 
bearing capacity of the tree since fruit buds may be formed on 
any of the wood older than one year. The average annual 
