45 



not percolate down through it readily, a Baldwin of poor 

 color with a skin more or less greasy is the usual result. 



Referring to the effect of a heavy, clayey soil on the growth 

 and quality of apples, Hedrick of the Geneva Experiment 

 Station, in Bulletin 339, published last summer, states that 

 '" The station soil is not an ideal one for apples. Though 

 well drained, the land is yet hard and heavy, and much of 

 the time unworkable, coming from the plow in great lumps 

 hardly to be crushed. In such a soil the root run is limited. 

 — a fact we have had forced upon our attention in early 

 spring, when the soil is wet, by the blowing over of several 

 trees. Manifestly, food would be better utilized by trees in a 

 soil where the roots could develop better. Despite the physi- 

 cal condition of the soil, apple trees make a very fair growth 

 and the fruit sets in abundance, but with most varieties — 

 and the Rome used in this experiment is not a marked excep- 

 tion — the apples run small, fail to color well and do not 

 always mature properly." 



The ideal to be sought is a heavy, fine, sandy loam, or a 

 light, mellow loam underlain by plastic, light clay loam or 

 heavy silt loam. It is fully realized that many will not pos- 

 sess this ideal, but the soil that most closely resembles it 

 should be chosen. If com be grown on such soil the lower 

 leaves will cure down before cutting time, giving evidence of 

 moderately early maturity. This is one of the safe criteria by 

 which to be guided in choosing soil for this variety. 



Mention was not made in the above description of the color 

 of the soil. The desirability of a surface soil of dark brown, 

 the color being due to the presence of decaying organic mat- 

 ter, is unquestionable and generally recognized ; and if the 

 soil be not that color the successful orchardist will make it so 

 by the incorporation of organic matter through the growth of 

 leguminous crops, or otherwise. It is often cheaper to buy 

 soil with a good organic content, or humus supply, than it is 

 to be compelled to put it there after purchase before good 

 crops can be secured. Hence this is purely an economic 

 feature. The warning should be stated, however, that a soil 

 should not be purchased or planted to apples of any variety 



