STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 79 



amount of nitrogen which he suppHes. The practical bearing- 

 of thus being able to influence the behavior of an orchard needs 

 no argument to establish the fact. 



These phenomena to which reference has thus far been made 

 are matters of almost every day notice, but perhaps the fact that 

 they are very largely under the control of the orchardist requires 

 that attention be especially directed to it, by way of emphasis. 



There are other ways in which the soil may cause great varia- 

 tion in apples of the same variety — ways that are more subtle 

 and less readily defined and less apparent, at least to the casual 

 observer. In the cold storage investigations that have been con- 

 ducted by the office with which I am connected in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, the fact has been developed that the soil 

 may influence, very decidedly, the keeping quality of apples. 

 For instance, the same variety grown on light sandy soil is not 

 likely to keep nearly as well as the same variety grown on a 

 heavier soil. The same thing seems to be true of apples from 

 young trees, even on heavier soil, or from older trees if the crop- 

 is very small. These last two tenets throw some light on the 

 first assertion, namely, that any condition of soil or tree which 

 induces a forced and rapid development of the fruit is likely to 

 produce fruit in which the life processes run their course in a 

 relatively short time ; hence, the tissues of the fruit break down 

 and decay sets in. In other words, these dififerences in soil 

 conditions produce physiological variations of the fruit which 

 may not appear until comparatively late stages in its life are 

 reached. 



Then there is the question of quality, ^^'e all know that a 

 variety grown on some soils may possess a flavor much more 

 pleasing to the consumer than the same variety grown on some 

 other soil. Now you are wishing I would tell you just what to 

 add to your soil to produce fruit of the most delectable flavor. 

 I wish I could do it, but I can't, and probably no one else can 

 do it. We are inclined to attribute such dififerences to some 

 mineral constituent which one soil possesses and the other does 

 not. But questions of quality and flavor belong to a realm but 

 little understood. 



Turning now to the efifect of climate as it is expressed in the 

 variation of varieties of apples, (and we may also include like- 



