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Show M A BULLETIN FROM PROF. HED-H HED-H RICK. H A great many readers of the Deseret H Farmer will no doubt remember Prof. B U. P. Hcdrick, who spent some years 1 as horticulturist at our State Expcrii M ment Station, and Professor of Horti- H culture of the State Agricultural Col- M lege. Prof. Hcdrick is regarded by a B great many people as one of the lcnd- H ing horticulturists of this country. 1 Recently the writer heard a famous H horticulturist discussing Prof, Hcd- H rick, I classing him as one of the six H leading horticulturists of the United H Sat$s. Mr. Hcdrick is now connected H with the New York Experiment Sta- H tion at Geneva. He has? recently is- H sued a splendid bulletin on "'Compari- B son of Tillage and Sod Mulch in an H Apple Orchard." The bulletin is dc- H cidedfly interesting, and while the ex- H poriments have been made in a humid H section, we have no doubt whatever that ihe conclusions would apply with I even greater forse in an add SSStioq, I like Utah. Some of the conclusions reached' arc as" follows: Average yield on sod plat after five years 71.52 barrels per acre, while on a plat that had clean cultivation an-1 tillago 110,43 barrels, a difference in favor of tilling of 38.91 barrels pc acrc. He also states that estimates made at blooming and fruiting time showed a far greater number of fruits on the tilled trees. The actual count was 434 apples per barrel on the sod land, weighing 5.05 oz. each, and 309 apples per barrel on the tilled plat, weighing 7.04 oz. each. The dark rich green color of the foliage on the tree in the cultivated plat showed that these trees were in the best of health. On the other hand, the yellow color of the leaves on the sod land tell at once that something was amiss. The leaves on the tilled trees came out three or four days earlier and remained on the trees a week or ten days longer than on the sodded trees. During the dormant dor-mant season there was a striking difference dif-ference in the appearance of the new wood on the two plats. The new wood on the tilled trees was plumper and richer in color, indicating bcttci health. The average cost per acre of the two methods of management, not including harvesting, was $17.92 for the sodded, and $24.47 for the tilled, giving a difference of 6.55 in favor of the sodded. However, the average net income per acre from the sodded plat was 71.52 barrels, while the tilled 110.43 'barrels, a difference of 38.91 in favor of tillage. In other words, in the net returns there is an increase of 54 per cent in favor of clean culture under the trees, over the sod mulch method of management. Prof. Hcdrick also goes to soma length in showing the great amount of moisture in the soil in the tilled plats as compared with the plats left to sod. Connected with the moisture question ques-tion is also the question of plant food, the greater availability being increased in the tilled plats. Applicable Ap-plicable to Utah horticulturists we Gan get the following points from this bulletin of inestimable value to them: Nearly all plants are improved by tillage; the apple is not an exception. The results of the experiments were sq positive that they can apjly to all vwfctto of ans4. to OJlteP41 ,0-cations'. While the experiment docs not sho that apples cannot 'be grown in sod, yet they suggest, however, that apples thrive in sod not because of it, but in . spite of it. We respectfully commend a careful perusal of this bulletin to many Utah horticulturists. There are many whd' contend that the orchard is better left to grass. The experiments conducted, the results of which are given in the bulletin ircfcrrcd to, and extending over a period of five years, give contrary con-trary results. We recommend that horticulturists who arc interested in this bulletin, make application to the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, at Geneva, for Bulletin No. 314, by Prof. U. P. Hcdrick. The, bulletin can be had free of cost, and since Prof. Hcdrick has had so much experience in the west, we feel safe in saying that the conclusions he draws can be directly applied to local conditions. The bulletin is a most fxcsJilcn: one. We do not recall scc-inp, scc-inp, any bulletin that takes up the question in a more comprehensive and practical way. |