40 PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 



by experiment. lS[o prudent man will, therefore, plant 

 a very large number of trees, of varieties which have 

 not been proved in his neighborhood ; at least, not 

 without having made careful inquiry regarding those 

 that have succeeded or failed. 



Still, general rules that should govern in the choice 

 of soils may be given. "No soil, however rich, that 

 allows water to remain on its surface more than a day 

 after it has fallen, or to rise in holes dug not more 

 than four feet deep, is fit for plantations of the Pear, 

 or, indeed, of any other fruit tree. And no light, thin 

 soil, which is not susceptible of deepening, can be 

 relied on. 



The soil for the Pear must be dry, and either deep, 

 or capable from the nature of its subsoil of deepening 

 without destroying its excellence, and of a looseness 

 of texture sufficient to allow the free extension of the 

 tender rootlets. 



A peaty or alluvial soil, or one too rich in vegetable 

 mould, may induce a luxuriant and beautiful growth 

 in appearance, the succulent shoots of which a rigor- 

 ous winter would certainly blight. A free loam 

 having a large preponderance of sand, without being 

 light, is preferable, as it is easily worked, at times 

 when a clayey soil would be nearly a bed of mortar. 

 "With proper manuring the first would produce a 

 stocky, well-ripened, but comparatively short growth, 

 while the latter, if in good condition, would induce 

 one more vigorous, but frequently unrij)ened. 



A noticeable instance of this difi'erence is seen in 

 the fact, that the winter blight of the Pear has never 

 been known on the rich, but light soils of New Jersey 



