37 



To modify, however, by the addition of humus, the phy- 

 sical condition of a sand until it resembles a sandy loam as 

 far down as tree roots ordinarily extend, is unquestionably 

 an expensive process, and as orchards are pfrown for profit 

 the soils on which they are to be planted should be so se- 

 lected for the ditlferent varieties as to furnish the most fa- 

 vorable conditions possible before going to the additional 

 •expense of trying to change their character artificially. 



While soils so deficient in humus as to be leachy in the 

 case of sands but stiff intractable and cloudy in the case of 

 clays, clay loams, and loams, should have their humus con- 

 tent increased until these unfavorable conditions for crop 

 growth of any kind be overcome so far as possible, it is ut- 

 terly futile to maintain that by the addition of plenty hu- 

 mus, the physical characteristics of any given soil may be 

 so changed that its inherent physical character is negligi- 

 hle so far as its adaptatioTi to crops or to different varieties 

 of the same crop is concerned. The agricultural practice 

 of the eastern United States is replete -jvitli instances of 

 special soil-crop-variety adaptation. 



"While the hills of ^lassachusetts include a great deal of 

 ideal Baldwin soil, or soil that resembles the ideal closely 

 enough for practical purposes, they also include a great 

 deal of soil that is not well adapted to the Baldwin. The 

 greatly superior color of the fruit from some orchards when 

 compared with that from others on a different kind of soil — 

 elevation, slope, methods of culture and fertilization being 

 virtually the same — gives striking evidence of the impor- 

 tance of the soil factor. On just this basis the fruit from 

 some orchards sells for a higher price than that from others. 

 This illustrates the ecoiiomie advisability of selecting the 

 orchard site with soils adapted to the variety to be planted. 



RHODE ISLAND GREENING SOILS 



As the best prices for the Rhode Island Greening are 

 usually obtained in New York City, the general aim of the 

 commercial grower will be to meet the preferences of that 

 market. The demand there for a "green" Greening has 

 usually been stronger than for one carrying a high blush, 

 and while individual buyers may be found, it is said, who 

 do not discriminate against the latter, most of them do to 

 the extent of 25 cents a barrel or more in favor of the 

 "green" Greening. Of even more importance sometimes, 

 is the fact that a "green" Greening will move on a "slow" 



