390 State Horticultural Society. 



Sufficient red oxide of iron to make the soil highly colored, then, 

 shows conclusively that the soil is well aerated and that the plant food 

 is likely to be in a readily available form. 



A red subsoil is of special importance to the orchardist, because it 

 indicates that the soil has been aerated to a good depth, enabling the 

 roots of the trees to reach a normal development at a good depth, so 

 as to be protected against the excessive heat of summer, the varia- 

 tions in moisture content and the fluctuations of the seasons. 



The red oxide of iron furthermore indicates that the soil has not 

 been leached. A gray or a light brov/n soil may have quite as good 

 a physical texture as the best of the red soils and yet be in general un- 

 suited to orchard purposes, for the reason that the plant food originally 

 contained in this soil has been leached out and lost. The red color, 

 therefore, indicates a soil of good physical condition to a good depth, 

 with plant food still present in reasonable quantities and in a fairly 

 available form. These constitute the essential characteristics of a good 

 fruit soil. 



It is believed that a soil of moderate fertility, but of such structure 

 as to insure the presence at all times of a moderate supply of available 

 plant food, will prove to be, all things considered, the best fruit soil. 

 Here the trees will make a regular, uniform, healthy growth, will be 

 fruitful and will ripen their wood properly to withstand the rigors of 

 winter. 



If this be true, then we have an important suggestion in the hand- 

 ling of soils that for one reason or another do not furnish precisely 

 these conditions. In one case the soil may be naturally somewhat poor, 

 but have the proper physical condition, wherefore we can supply the 

 food in a slowly available form, and in this form the plant food is re- 

 latively cheap, so that we may be able to make liberal applications. 



In another case the land may be rich enough but of such close 

 texture that disintegration goes on slowly and the trees cannot root. 

 Here the correction of the physical condition will furnish the remedy 

 cheaper than an application of available plant food. If the land be 

 a clay, a copious dressing of lime, say 2000 pounds per acre, will do 

 much to remedy the defect. 



If perchance the soil be too open and porous, as in the case of a 

 sandy soil, so that the organic matter burns out readily, and the soil 

 dries to a great depth in midsummer, to the detriment of the trees, an 

 application of lime will correct this evil, and make the soil more corn- 

 pact and more drouth-resistant. 



