CHAPTER XIV. 



APPLES, PEARS, AND QUINCES. 



'he apple will grow upon almost any soil, but, as a pro- 

 perly planted and cultivated apple tree will bear for one 

 hundred years, the selection of soil and situation is wor- 

 thy of careful attention. The soils best suited to the 

 apple are limestone soils, strong clayey loams, and sandy loams. 

 A too sandy loam may be modified by a dressing of clay. And 

 both clayey and sandy loams, if destitute of limestone, should 

 be liberally dressed with lime, before planting the trees, 

 and occasionally afterwards. Never plant an orchard in wet 

 land, until it is underdrained. 



The northern slope of a hillside is the best position for the 

 apple in the Northern States, and the bottom of a valley is the 

 worst for any fruit in any section. If it is the intention to cul- 

 tivate grain on the same ground with the apple orchard, the 

 trees should be planted forty feet apart. We believe the better 

 way to be to plant them twenty to thirty feet apart, according to 

 the natural size of the tree, and cultivate nothing but hoed 

 crops between the rows. Rye should never under any circum- 

 stances be grown among fruit trees; and clover only to be 

 plowed under, or fed on the ground. The ground should 

 always be kept mellow, and for three reasons we recommend 

 high manuring and root crops in the orchard. The cultivation 

 of root crops keeps the ground mellow; the manure which es- 



