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Wisconsin State Horticultural Society / Annual report of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society for the year 1910
Volume XL, Part II (1910)
Taylor, O. M.
A comparison of tillage and sod mulch in an apple orchard, pp. 117-125
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Page 117
WINTER MEETING. 117 ent from yours here, you have more snow, but I want my ground covered during the winter time with something, and even where we put on corn, we like to sow something at the last cultivation of the corn, so that there is something on the ground after the corn is cut off. Of course we sometimes do not get very much growth in amongst the corn, and I can see that this method might vary on ground that was liable to wash, and in some places it may not be practicable to do that. I have noticed in the Rural New Yorker, some of Mr. Collinwood's experiments in planting an orchard. He put around anything, hay, straw, weeds. Now, that practice would not do at all with us, because of the danger from mice in the winter time. We have to be very par- ticular about that and whenever I put on a cove rcrop, I am particular in the fall to have a clean space immediately around the trees, but I want a cover crop as well, because, as has been stated here before, I think you will destroy all the humus if you practice clean cultivation without returning something to the soil, something in the way of a cover crop, or a heavy coating of stable manure. A COMPARISON OF TILLAGE AND SOD MULCH IN AN APPLE ORCHARD. 0. M. TAYLOR, Geneva, N. Y. Among all the horticultural industries of the Empire State of New York, the culture of the apple ranks first in importance. It takes this position not only in the value of the fruit produced but also in the value of the lands devoted to this crop. Apple- growing as a business has come to receive special attention only in recent years, and is yet comparatively young, dating back no more than 50 or 60 years to the first great movement in the plant- ing of apple orchards in New York. In those earlier days, little, if any, careful systematic study had been made regarding cultural methods. The subject itself was new and there were no past experiences to serve as guides in regard to selection of varieties, distance of planting, pruning, enemies of the fruit and tree-both insect and fungi-or of the proper treatment of the soil to secure best results. But as the years passed experience was gained and now at the present time i i i
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