1714 Keport of Farmers' Institutes 



are. The chemist can help but little here ; in most cases an actual 

 test in the field is the only way of knowing whether a variety 

 will or will not thrive in a soil. One property of the soil is too 

 often neglected ; namely, its heat-retaining properties. Some 

 fruits, as the peach and the grape, require warm soils ; apples 

 and pears will thrive in cooler lands, but, in general, a cold, 

 heavy, close soil is a poor one for any fruit. 



VARIETIES 



What varieties shall 1 plant i This question we have touched 

 upon in previous paragraphs and it only remains here to be said 

 that out of the thousands of varieties of the several fruits even 

 the few best ones may be most readily characterized by their 

 faults — showing how necessary it is to make careful choice of 

 varieties. An intimate first-hand knowledge of varieties in the 

 planter's own locality is the only way to become competent to 

 choose the sorts to plant. Consideration will in most cases lead 

 him to choose standard varieties. 



TREES 



It is as difficult to select trees as it is to make a choice of vari- 

 eties. Trees grown near home are somewhat better than those 

 brought from a distance. Every precaution should l)e taken in 

 buying to insure trees true to name and free from pests. Other 

 things being equal, a short, stocky tree is better than a tall, spind- 

 ling one; one with many branches, better than one with few; and 

 always the root system should be well developed. 



" PEDIGREED " TREES 



The idea is current that fruits can be improved by bud-selection. 

 It is held that the variations in fruit, tree, productiveness, vigor 

 and hardiness to be found in varieties of fruit, can be reproduced 

 by taking cions or buds from the plants possessing the variations. 

 Nurserymen are putting this theory in practice and trees are now 

 offered for sale with a " pedigree '' to show that they came from 

 " good " ancestry. But there is no evidence that any sort of fruits 

 has come into existence by continuous selection; that any \ariety 

 has been improved through the cumulative action of selection. No 



