NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



351 



are all overloaded with fruit this season. 

 The Yellow Egg would be a favorite were it 

 not so much inclined to rot. The Washing- 

 ton is another fine plum, but it is a little 

 tender for shipment." 



" I would not place Bradshaw at the 

 head of the list for profit," said Mr. Ira 

 VanDuzer, an experienced Winona fruit 

 grower. " I find it too early for canning 

 purposes — people are not quite ready for 

 putting up plums by the middle of August. 

 The variety which I find most in demand 

 and which I would plant with the most con- 

 fidence, is the Reine Claude. It is the fav- 

 orite plum for canning, and indeed no plum 

 equals it in quality for this purpose. It is 

 in great favor and yearly gaining ground ; 

 it commands a good price, and is equal to 

 Bradshaw in productiveness, if it does not 

 excel that excellent variety. 



SAND VS. CLAY SOIL FOR FRUIT 



AN erroneous notion prevails that clay 

 soil is not suitable for fruit culture, 

 whereas the experience of many is quite in 

 favor of clay soil, if not too stiff for cultiva- 

 tion. At " Maplehurst " we have tried both 

 soils for apples, and have taken the largest 

 and finest fruit off clay loam where well cul- 

 tivated. This latter condition is of course 

 perfectly essential, with such soil, otherwise 

 the very worst results will follow. The 

 lazy farmer had better plant on sand, which 

 may endure neglect, but the industrious 

 cultivator will value his heavier soil for 

 many fruits. Our vineyard at ** Maple- 

 hurst" is on a deep, rich sandy loam, and 

 produces good crops of Concord grapes, but 

 Mr. F. G. H. Pattison has his vineyard on 

 clay soil, and always surprises us by market- 

 ing his Concords a week or so in advance of 

 us, and declares his are sweeter in flavor as 

 well as earlier in season. 



Writers on horticulture have always ad- 

 vised planting the cherry on sandy soil, but 

 as stated on page 312, Mr. W. M. Orr, of 



Winona, finds his cherry trees on clay loam 

 longer lived and more productive than those 

 planted on sandy loam. 



"My Washington trees on sandy soil," 

 said Mr. Albert Smith, " are all dropping all 

 their fruit this year, but those on the clay 

 are holding it very well. We always 

 thought our farm too heavy for fruit grow- 

 ing, but recently we have found that we can 

 produce as good fruit as any one by giving 

 good cultivation. The soil of that plum 

 orchard has received the best of tillage, and 

 yet it has not been plowed for three years ; 

 the work is done with the disc and culti- 

 vator. 



CHERRIES ON CLAY SOIL 



THE objection to a rich, deep sandy 

 loam for the cherry lies in its encour- 

 aging too great wood growth, which robs 

 the fruit buds of their vigor. We have the 

 Windsor cherry planted on such soil, and 

 our experience has been unfavorable. The 

 trees grow most vigorously, but the fruitage 

 is only moderate, and the cherries seem 

 almost as much inclined to rot as the 

 Napoleon. We harvested our crop before 

 it was fully ripe to save it from rotting, and 

 a week later, about July 25th, Mr. Albert 

 Smith was only beginning to harvest his 

 Elkhorn and Windsor. His orchard was 

 on clay soil ; the trees were not half as 

 vigorous in wood growth as ours, but the 

 yield per foot of bearing wood was fully 

 double. Indeed, the productiveness of his 

 trees was enormous, and still more notice- 

 able was the freedom from rot. What else 

 could it be but the difference in soil ? Not 

 only were his cherries a heavier crop, but 

 by hanging a week longer they were very 

 much larger and better colored, which gave 

 him a great advantage in selling price for 

 his fruit. 



WET SOIL WILL NOT DO 



One caution must, however, be observed, 

 whether sandy or clay soil be chosen, and 



