FR Un C UL TURE. 



55 



what expensive and laborious matter in some 

 cases. And other things being equal, cer- 

 tain fruits will undoubtedly thrive better on 

 special kinds of soils, and even different var- 

 ieties of the same species of fruit have their 

 soil predilections. So that it is better to as- 

 certain the nature of the varieties to be 

 planted, if possible, before giving them an 

 uncongenial home. The kinds of soil best 

 adapted for the cherry, the pear and so on 

 will be touched on in the chapters devoted 

 to those fruits. Any man who has decided 

 to plant fruit trees of any kind should at 

 once make up his mind that no matter how 

 good the site, or how valuable the variety, 

 his time and money w^ill inevitably be wasted 

 if his land is not properly drained. Some 

 trees may exist under adverse conditions of 

 this sort, may even partially succeed for a 

 time, but " failure " must be the final word. 

 A porous soil, soils of a sufficient elevation 

 to provide good natural drainage, these with 

 care may give excellent results, but broadlv 

 speaking underdraining w'ill always abund- 



( To be Continued. ) 



antly repay its expense in the case of prac- 

 tically all fruits. Amongst the manv benefits 

 derived from the proper svstem of under- 

 draining are the following : The raising of 

 the soil's temperature ; the freeing of all 

 surplus water from the subsoil ; the liberation 

 of much plant food, which though in the 

 soil otherwise remains inaccessible to the 

 feeding roots ; the making of the soil both 

 moister in a time of drouth and drier in time 

 of excessive moisture. On land well drained 

 the root system of the tree i§ not only vastly 

 more healthy, but the feeding rootlets com- 

 mence work earlier ; the tree makes a more 

 rapid and vigorous growth, and is in a far 

 better position to develop plump sound fruit 

 buds and to ripen its wood for the winter. 

 These are great gains, and under ordinary 

 conditions the orchardist who has once ex- 

 perienced them will not be likely to neglect 

 the underdraining of other lands he intends 

 to plant. 



M. BURREI.I., 



St. Catharines. 



NUMBER OF TREES ON AN ACRE. 



30 feet apart each way 50 



25 feet apart each way 70 



20 feet apart each way no 



1 8 feet apart each way 135 



1 5 feet apart each way 195 



12 feet apart each way 300 



10 feet apart each way 435 



8 feet apart each way 680 



6 feet apart each way 1210 



5 feet apart each way 1 746 



4 feet apart each way 2725 



3 feet apart each way 4840 



Rule. — Multiply the distance in feet between the rows by the distance the plants are 

 apart in rows and the product will be the number of square feet for each plant or hill : 

 which, divided into the number of feet in an acre (43,560), will give the number of plants 

 or trees to an acre. 



