SOIL 31 



Sun is also a most important factor, for it is ab- 

 solutely essential to the proper maturation of both 

 wood and fruit, and therefore, upon no consideration, 

 must apple trees be planted in a shady position. 

 The growth made under such conditions will almost 

 certainly become weak through improper ripening, 

 and things will then rapidly go from bad to worse. 

 If the shoots are not thoroughly matured, the buds 

 upon them will be immature also, and will fail in 

 the following season to produce good growths, which 

 in their turn will also bear inferior fruits. Too 

 much importance, therefore, cannot be attached to 

 the selection of a site calculated, as far as may be 

 possible, to have some protection from the east and 

 west, and that is also exposed to the full sun. 



SOIL 



The apple delights in a deep loam, and the nearer to 

 this the soil of one's garden approaches, the better will 

 be the results, so far as soil has to do with them. The 

 loam need not be rich, and it must not be more sandy 

 than is necessary for adequate porosity. That it must 

 be properly drained, goes without saying, for no fruit 

 tree, or any other tree either, can be expected to thrive 

 in a damp, waterlogged soil. Given a good loamy soil 

 that is properly drained, either naturally or artificially, 

 the apple tree ought to thrive. If the subsoil is of 

 a sandy nature, no artificial drainage will be necessary, 

 nor indeed will such be essential unless the subsoil is of 

 a very retentive nature. 



If, upon digging several holes in various parts of the 

 land to be planted, water is found within three feet 

 of the surface, drainage will be required ; and, if no 

 water is found, then it may be taken that the land 

 is naturally sufficiently well drained. Supposing the 



