38 Peach-Growing 



growth of wood and foliage are apt to be objectionable be- 

 cause these results are not always conducive to the produc- 

 tion of the best crops, nor of fruit of the highest quality 

 and appearance. It is doubtless a fact, fully supported by 

 experience, that the well-drained warm soils preserve the 

 best balance between vegetative growth of tree and fruit 

 production. It obviously follows that such soils usually 

 represent the lighter t}T)es. The heavy types are likely 

 to lack adequate drainage. 



In addition to the type as indicated by the surface, the 

 subsoil is of the very greatest importance — greater even 

 than that of the surface. The surface may have every ap- 

 pearance of being a good "peach soil" and yet the subsoil 

 be of such a character as to make the site quite impossible 

 for the successful production of peaches. For instance, a 

 thin stratum of soil underlaid by rock, as is shown in Plate 

 III, makes a soil condition entirely unsuited for orchard pur- 

 poses. Under the most favorable moisture conditions, an 

 orchard planted on such a site may do well, but in times of 

 severe drought it is likely to suffer because the reservoir 

 of soil-moisture is so limited; in times of excessive rains, 

 difficulties resulting from poor drainage conditions are likely 

 to occur. Many orchards have failed because the soil 

 stratum above a hard pan or solid rock was too thin. 



The surface soil can also be modified considerably by the 

 w^ay in which it is handled, but the subsoil admits of only 

 slight, or even no modification, by ordinary means, except 

 perhaps as it may be changed by drainage, or by the growing 

 on it of deep-rooted plants such as alfalfa. 



If the subsoil is very gravelly and porous, it is likely to 

 feel severely the effects of even moderate droughts and be 

 unsatisfactory on this account. The other extreme — a 



