The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-04-28

Vat1Ou on Une CROWN OF apple trees, inc
size Of fruit and the water contents of
the soil. The report says: "The trees
in cultivated ground suffered noticeably
less from the drought and hot winds Of
summer than those in sod ground. The
foliage was darker and more vigorous
in appearance, and there was no vel.
lowing and dropping Of the leaves or
willing during hot windy days, both of
which occurred with uncultivated trees.
Apples from cultivated land averaged
nearly ID per cent larger in weight than
those from pasture land and over II
per cent larger than those from moved
land. The average percentages Of
moisture in the first 20 inches Of the
soil in different portions Of the orchard
in the latter part Of October were
MOVED portion, IA; pasture portion,
lat; portion cultivated till August.
II. and portion cultivated the entire
season. 2O.4."
Observations OF grass land near the
orchard showed that alfalfa only two
years old took the moisture from the
soil as completely as an old June grass
sod. These facts show how very neces.
sary cultivation is in a dry climate.
That the same is true in dry seasons in
moister climates is shown by observa.
tons at the Cornell IN. " station.
The California station has recently
reported an instance Of the beneficial
effect of cultivation on the growth and
fruitfulness of orchards. Apricots grown
in adjacent fields under exactly the
same conditions. except for cultivation.
showed great difference in behavior.
See Fig. l. where A represents a cult
waited and B an un%cultivated apricot
tree in a dry season. The soil Of the re-
gion in which the orchards are located
has a rather loose texture. One orchard
was cultivated several inches deep. and
the other was uncultivated. During one
season the trees in the cultivated field
made a wood growth Of owe three feet,
while those in the uncultivated field
made a growth Of not over three inches.
There was also a great difference in the
fruit. The average percentage Of mois-
ture in the first six feet Of soil was 6.3
in the cultivated orchard and A. in the
other one. A recent bulletin Of the H.
linois station reports marked benefit
from clean cultivation Of an orchard. In
1890 three rows each of Ben Davis and
Grimes Golden apples were planted, the
trees being set IS feet apart each way.
These were divided into four plats. the
first being given clean cultivation and
the second, third and fourth being crop
ped with oats, clover and blue grass.
oopoct;vo1v (E;r 0A rha so,,a %rou%-
ment was continued each year after
planting. The trees grown on the grass
plats were decidedly inferior to those
grown on the cultivated plat as regards
height. diameter Of trunk, vigor and
abundance of foliage, etc. For instance,
in the case Of the Ben Davis, trees the
diameter of the trunks one foot above
the surface Of the soil was about twice
as great in the case Of the cultivated
plat as in case of that in grass. SINH
larly the height Of the trees in the two
plats averaged 1874 and II feet, and
the diameter Of the tops 154 and 81
feet respectively. In growth and vigor
Of the trees the clover plat ranked next
after the cultivated, and the oats rank.
ed between the clover and the blue
grass plats. Fig. 2 shows the effect Of
the different systems Of culture on the
growth Of apple trees-A, clean Guilt
walton; B, cropped with oats; Q, crop
ped with clover: D. cropped with blue
grass.
The injury caused by growing grass
in young orchards is shown very en-
H.