STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 85 



composition of a soil is not necessarily a measure of its product- 

 ive capacity, since plant food is of no consequence unless the 

 plant can make use of it. If there is sufficient material avail- 

 able to produce only a stunted growth of trees and grass at the 

 same time, it is evident that the surface application of additional 

 food may temporarily stimulate the growth of both. Hard 

 lumpy soils, however, will not produce good crops, no matter 

 how much fertilizer may be applied, and there is no doubt that 

 the number of "worn out" farms in Xew England is much 

 smaller than is generally supposed. I have little doubt that much 

 of the benefit recorded by those who have used commercial fer- 

 tilizers in their orchards, as well as by those who have used 

 stable manure, has resulted from the tillage given at the time of 

 application rather than from the particular form or amount of 

 plant food applied. 



Plant food to be of value must be in solution, and must be so 

 distributed that the greatest number of line feeding roots may 

 lay hold of it. It is obvious that the line fibrous roots will find 

 their way among the minute particles of a finely pulverized soil 

 much more readily than they will force their way into a stiff clay 

 or through heavy clods. It is also obvious that those soils which 

 are open and porous, which contain a large number of spaces 

 between the particles, will take and retain the moisture to better 

 advantage than will a compact soil — in the same way that a 

 sponge will take up a larger amount of moisture than a block of 

 wood. Xow since the amount of water which falls during the 

 growing season is, as a rule, entirely inadequate for the growth 

 of plants during that time this storage or conservation of the 

 melting snows and spring rains may play a most important part 

 in the success or failure of a given crop. By deep plowing and 

 thorough working before the trees are planted, and by continued 

 working and the addition of organic matter by means of cover 

 crops after planting, this spongy condition of the soil which is 

 essential to the best growth of trees and farm crops alike, is 

 best obtained. 



But not all New England orchards are susceptible of cultiva- 

 tion in the ordinary way. In such cases some other method of 

 treatment must be devised. A heavy mulch of hay, leaves or 

 sawdust (preferably not fresh sawdust) conserves the moisture 

 and prevents the growth of robber plants — weeds ; to this extent 



