210 THE CONNECTICUT P0M0L0G1CAL SOCIETY. 



wise he will make a grand failure. We ought to study not 

 only the adaptability of the different soils on our farms in 

 which to plant crops, but the different varieties and species, 

 and even different varieties of the same species. You all 

 know that there are certain varieties of apples that do not do 

 well on all kinds of soil. So with pears. The Keiffer pear, 

 which everybody thinks bad, won't do well on any kind of 

 soil, although it will do about as well as anything I know of. 

 There are not many people who want to grow Keiffer pears, 

 because there is not much profit in them. You can grow 

 them in most localities. It does not matter what the man is 

 going to grow, he wants fertile soil. I believe that a good 

 many people have the opinion that they can grow fruit on 

 most any kind of soil. I want to combat that notion to-day. 



People sometimes plant on soil that would not grow white 

 beans. We see them sometimes sow grain on a sandy soil, 

 or on a soil which does not possess the necessary plant food 

 for a grain crop. The farmer must learn to avoid things of 

 that kind. The second largest corn crop ever grown was on 

 a piece of land which was cleared of its timber. Never had 

 been planted with any other crop before that. It seems to 

 me that that instance is sufficient evidence to show that we 

 want fertile soil even for strawberries. If we have fertile 

 soil, I do not think we need worry about the leaf spot and 

 other diseases of strawberries. This can be overcome. A 

 good soil is the basis of the whole scheme. I thought Mr. 

 Drew brought out yesterday a good point when he said that 

 if the soil is not in proper condition we can oft-times change 

 it. Suppose there is too much excess moisture there ; a tile 

 'drainage system will remove that. If we are going to plant 

 .this to a peach orchard, as the trees continue to grow they 

 will pump the water out through the leaves, the leaves fall 

 and make a mulch on the ground, which helps to keep the 

 moisture in. Try to keep up these natural conditions of soil, 

 .and we need not worry so much about our crops. 



