212 ANNUAL BBPOET 



tation of hardy varieties from parts of Russia, where the climate 

 and soils are similar to our own. But the rate of advancement 

 which we will make in fruit culture, will depend more upon skill- 

 ful selections of soils and the adoption of proper methods of 

 orchard management than the introduction of very hardy varieties 

 of fruits. We must ignore the directions given in the standard 

 books for pruning, planting, etc., and be guided by the results of 

 experiments made on our own bleak prairies. My principal 

 reasons for valuing the experience of western fruit growers so 

 highly, may be inferred from the following report of things which 

 I have learned while trying to grow an orchard in northern Iowa. 

 The health and productiveness of fruit trees depend as much 

 upon the qualities of the soils upon which they have been 

 planted as upon climate or culture. Loamy soils, consisting 

 of sand, clay, and vegetable mould in nearly equal parts, are best 

 for orchards. The best subsoil is yellow clay, which contains 

 sufficient sand to render it porous, and it should be thoroughly 

 drained. Some good orchard soils are naturally well drained, while 

 others are not. 



For the benefit of those who do not appreciate the advantages 

 of drainage, or understand why some soils are suitable for orchards 

 and others are not, I will give some of the reasons why the pres- 

 ence of too much or too little water in a soil, is injurious to grow- 

 ing plants or trees. Plants cannot grow without the presence 

 of atmospheric air and moisture in the soil. Stagnant water in a 

 soil will not only exclude atmospheric air, but will cause the par- 

 ticles of which it consists to adhere so closely together that it will 

 be liable to bake when it shall become dry. In the latter case it 

 would be almost as impervious to atmospheric air as when filled 

 with water. Therefore two of the leading causes why fruit trees 

 will not grow on wet soils will be apparent. Too many farmers 

 and fruit growers are ignorant of the fact, that a very large part 

 of the food which plants and trees require exists in the atmos- 

 phere in the form of gases, which are carried to their roots in 

 porous or drained soils by rains; or, during clear weather, by the 

 condensation of the moisture of the atmosphere in the soil. But 

 when a soil is badly baked or filled with water, neither rains nor 

 atmospheric air can enter it, and the benefits to be derived from 

 these important gases are lost. Again, the roots of trees cannot 

 use or take up food which is not in a liquid condition. But only 

 a part of the substances upon which plants feed are soluble in 

 water, while others are made so only by the aid of carbonic acid 



