38 APPLE GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER V. 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 



Apple trees require good, deep, well drained soils, preferably of a 

 somewhat light clayey loam. No definite rule can be laid down as to 

 the particular kind of soil for them. Many splendid orchards may be 

 found growing on light, sandy river bottom soils, while others have done 

 equally as well on quite heavy clay, even of the type which we speak of 

 as adobe. Generally speaking, however, the very heavy and very light 

 soils should be avoided. In California the brown or red mesa soils of 

 the foothill sections along the Sierras, where they possess sufficient 

 depth, grow fine trees. Back in the mountains proper, at high altitudes 

 may be found a black loam, very moist and full of humus, which is 

 admirably adapted to the growth of apples. The coast section, includ- 

 ing Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties, has a variety of soils, ranging 

 from light sand to stiff clay, and a number of types are known to pro- 

 duce excellent trees and fruit. Poor soils of any kind are not good for 

 apples, and trees should never be set out on land which is too poor for 

 other crops. Hardpan lands should be avoided. A layer of gypsum, 

 marl, or heavy clay within three feet of the surface is not desirable; 

 neither should soils be chosen where water stands within three feet of 

 the surface at any time during the season. In such cases alkalies are 

 very apt to become bad. While trees may grow fairly well for a number 

 of years with hardpan or water close to the surface, sooner or later they 

 are sure to show signs of trouble. This may manifest itself as small, 

 yellow, sickly foliage, sparse growth, or as a mass of foliage toward tips 

 of twigs, or some other condition indicating starvation. The healthiest 

 trees, generally speaking, are those which root the deepest, and all con- 

 ditions unfavorable to deep rooting should be avoided as much as 

 possible. 



Varieties developed to perfection on a certain type of soil would 

 naturally be expected to do best on similar soils elsewhere. This is a 

 phase of the question that has not been given much attention in the 

 past, but one which no doubt will receive more consideration in the 

 future. Prof. J. W. Nelson of the University of California, -in an 

 address before the State Fruit Growers' Convention at Davis, in June, 

 1914, on the "Fruit Soils of the Great Interior Valley," touched upon 

 this subject and gave some striking illustrations of the truth that 

 varieties do best on similar soils in different sections and made the fol- 

 lowing statement: "In our studies in this state, and elsewhere in the 

 United States, we have observed that each kind of fruit, like other crops, 

 has a soil and climatic environment in which it reaches its greatest per- 

 fection, and when grown on a type differing greatly from that to which 

 the variety had adjusted its functions of growth, failure frequently 

 results and one or more of the essential qualities is missing or is replaced 

 by other inferior or superior ones. So if we have a desirable variety, 

 possessing qualities which we wish to retain, we must grow the variety 

 in a soil and climate like or nearly like those in which it obtained its 



