204- Joiirnul of Af/ricu/t inr. Virtoria. \ 10 April, IIM.^. 



APPLE CULTURE IN VICTORIA. 



. P>]i J. Fdfrcll, Ofclnu'd S iijicrrisoi-. 

 (C'oiitiiuu'd from jiage 140.) 



Drainage. 



Althougli the apple is capable of accoininodaTiug itself to a Avide range 

 of soil and climatic conditions, also geographically both in respect to 

 latitude and altitude, its powers of making a congenial home under the 

 varying circumstances have never overcome its antipathy to wet, sour 

 soils, in which it is obliged to endure the condition commonly known as 

 suffering from " wet feet." Consequently there is no phase of orchard 

 management, that requires more careful and prompt attention than drain- 

 age. To maintain a healthy and vigorous growth of the trees it is obvious 

 that, during the vegetative periods particularly, the soil should be kept 

 sufficiently moist to enable the feeding roots to absorb, in solution, the 

 different elements of soil assimilated plant food. The condition of sour- 

 ness created by stagnant water, especially in heavy clays with retentive 

 subsoils in which there is a predisposition to acidity, may be regarded as 

 the antithesis of an essentially favorable environment. 



Through want of drainage the soil becomes saturated, its interspaces 

 being thus filled with water which prevents aeration. While the soil 

 is in this temper, beneficial bacterial activity is suspended and sourness 

 or acidity develops. Such a state is also unfavorable to the raising of 

 cover crops for green manure, and when organic manures are incor- 

 porated in soil under these conditions, the rate, at which the chemical 

 changes necessary to produce soluble plant food proceeds, is so slow that 

 its accomplishment is often too late to be of much service to the trees 

 during their period of growth. It is often impossible to plough the land 

 in early spring, and when dry enough to be cultivated later, the soil, if 

 tenacious, usually turns over in hard sods. These obstacles and dis- 

 advantages involve extra expense by operating against the bringing 

 of the soil into an early and fine state of tilth. When the surface soil 

 is shallow, and often even when cultivated, tenacious subsoils crack 

 during hot weather. These fissures facilitate excessive capillary action, 

 by which the ground to a considerable de})th quickly loses its moisture, 

 upon which the sustenance of the trees depends. 



Wow it is obvious that drained land, on account of the friable 

 character of its physical condition, retains its moisture during the periods 

 of growth better than that suffering from the evil effects of water lodg- 

 ment during winter. 



Trees growing on land requiring to be drained usually thrive fairly 

 satisfactorily for a time, but when an exceptionally wet winter occurs 

 many of them become water-logged, and in many instances die. 



The gaseous food breathed in by the tree from the air is elaborated 

 only in proportion to the amount of liquid food used, and the latter not 

 being present in the proper form for absorption, the tree must of neces- 

 sity starve. 



The orchard in which the water-logged tree illustrated in Plate 158 

 is growing was drained at the time of planting. Wood drains were placed 

 between every two rows of trees, and while these worked well the trees 



