POMOLOGY 139 



protect against the cold, it has been found that a wind-break 

 on the windy and sunny side is helpful in preventing the 

 blowing off of the fruit and in protecting against hot winds. 

 The air on a northern slope is cooler than that on the southern 

 slope. This is desirable in spring because the buds and blos- 

 soms will not start so soon and will thus probably escape the 

 frosts that usually follow a warm spell. Some people cover 

 the ground around their trees with straw or manure when 

 the ground is frozen, so that it will not thaw out quickly in 

 spring and the blossoms thus be held back. Such covering 

 does no good, for the starting of the buds is influenced by the 

 temperature of the air. If the end of a grape-vine or peach- 

 limb be pulled into a warm room through a hole in the win- 

 dow, it will put out buds in a short time, although the roots of 

 the vine or tree are frozen solid in the ground. 



Fruits can be grown on almost any kind of soil. There is 

 little excuse for a farmer to be without fruit because his soil 

 is not right. Of course each kind of fruit does like a certain 

 kind of soil better than another. We shall speak of these as 

 we take up the individual fruits. In general all fruits and 

 ornamental trees and shrubs do best on a good soil having a 

 porous subsoil, that is, one that permits the surplus water to 

 drain away and allows the roots to grow downward easily. 

 Such a soil does not get so dry in dry weather nor so wet 

 in wet weather as one having a compact subsoil. If one is 

 raising fruit in a large way for market, he should select land 

 which is naturally well adapted, but drainage, irrigation, or 

 fertilization, as the case may require, will usually give ade- 

 quate returns. 



