350 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



thrive best, and this important feature must not be neglected in work- 

 ing out the range for each variety. 



Our future work will take into consideration not only the species, 

 but detailed information will be sought for each variety within the 

 species and each influencing detail as affected bj^ any phase of the 

 soil factor will be sought, and its relation to the qualities of the fruit 

 will be brought out and with each detail carefully in mind, the returns 

 from future plantings should be nearly doubled in most places. 



Another important feature which has a strong bearing on the suc- 

 cess of fruit growing, is the nursery stock. In the past, nurserymen 

 have sought the light textured soils for their propagations because of 

 the ease of handling, and as soon as their stock was ready for marketing, 

 it was advertised for all kinds of soil in the State and in many in- 

 stances, for any soil in any part of the United States. A great loss 

 has resulted from this system and reliable nurserymen are now com- 

 ing to see that to avoid difficulties in the pro'pagation of the stock, it 

 is necessary that it be propagated on soils similar to those in which 

 the trees are to be placed in the permanent orchard. Example : A 

 young pear tree grown in the nursery in a loamy sand and fed well 

 to show it to be thrifty; when transferred to a heavy clay loam 

 is so seriously upset when transplanted to the permanent orchard 

 that it either dies or is so checked that one or more years is lost before 

 it has been able to adjust itself to the new conditions, and in many 

 instances, an irregular, puny, scrubby orchard results. 



A very common practice among farmers at the present time is to 

 purchase new varieties of fruits and seeds wholly on catalogue descrip- 

 tions or on the advice of some friend, without regard or knowledge of 

 the character of the soil on which the varieties have been developed or 

 successfully grown. The originators of .such varieties seldom if ever, 

 think or say anything about the soils from which the varieties were 

 obtained, never thinking perhaps, that the soil type could influence 

 the future tendencies of the plant. These different varieties are thus 

 taken out of their original environment, subjected to a continual round 

 or readjustment to new environments, and as a result, the yields and 

 desirable qualities are kept permanently below a reasonable standard 

 because of the adverse circumstances in which the trees are forced to 

 grow. However, without a classiflcation of the soils, no law of general 

 application can be deduced from the many observed facts, and until 

 soil survey work was taken up, there was no basis for systematic 

 correlation. 



During years of study in all parts of the United States on the 

 adaptation of varieties of fruit to soil types, we have found in every 

 case investigated, that each variety has been developed upon quite a 

 distinct soil environment and our studies of the later history of the 

 varieties, go to show that they give best results only when grown on 

 soils like or similar to those on which they were developed. In fact, it 

 seems highly improbable that satisfactory results can be obtained in 

 an orchard where there is a medley of soils. Where numerous grada- 

 tions from sands to clays occur on a tract of land where each body 

 is too small to be used for other varieties, it is desirable to use the 

 field for plants which have a wider range of adaptation and which do 

 not occupy the ground so long. Uniformity of soil type is essential 



