Fruit Growing 7 



trees will have difficulty enough in making satisfactory growth on rain- 

 fall, and would be prevented from doing so if they had to divide the 

 soil moisture with crops planted between them. The light, deep soils 

 which you mention, resulting from decomposed rock, are not retentive 

 enough, and, even with the large rainfall of your region, may require 

 irrigation to carry trees through the latter summer and early fall growth. 



What Slopes for Fruit? 



I want to plant some apples and berries. One man says plant 

 them on the east or south slope of the hill and they zvill be ripe 

 early. Another man says not to do that, for when the sitn hits the 

 trees or vines in the morning before the frost is off, it zvill kill all the 

 blossoms, and as they would be on the zvarni side of the hill they would 

 blossom earlier and there zvill be more frosts to injure them. I am told 

 to plant them on the north or zvest side of the hill, where it is cold, and 

 they zvill blossom later and zvill therefore have less frosts to bother them, 

 and the frost zvill be almost off before the sun hits them in the morning. 



Fruit is grown on all slopes in our foothills, depending on local 

 conditions. On the whole, we should choose the east and north 

 slopes rather than the east and south, because there is less danger 

 of injury from too great heat. In some cases what is said to you 

 about the less danger of injury from frosts on the north and west 

 slopes would be true. All these things depend upon local conditions, 

 because there is so much difference in heat and frost and similar 

 slopes at different elevations and exposures. There can never be a 

 general rule for it in a State so endowed with varying conditions 

 as California is. 



Trees Over Underflow. 



/ have planted fruit trees near the creek, where they do not have 

 to be irrigated as the ground there holds sufficient moisture for them, 

 but a neighbor tells me that on account of the moisture being so near 

 the surface the trees will not bear fruit zvell, although they zvill grow 

 and have all the appearances of health. 



Shallow soil above standing water is not good for fruit trees. A 

 shallow soil over moving water or underflow, such as you might ex- 

 pect from a creek bank, is better. The effect of water near the surface 

 depends also upon the character of the soil, being far more dangerous 

 in the case of a heavy clay soil than in the case of a light loam, through 

 which water moves more readily and does not rise sp far or so rapidly 

 by capillary action. If the trees are thrifty they will bear when they 

 attain a sufficient age and stop the riotous growth which is character- 

 istic of young trees with abundant moisture. If trees have too much 

 water for their health, it will be manifested by the rotting of their 

 roots, the dying of their branches, the cropping out of mushroom fungi 

 at the base and other manifestations of distress. So long as the tree 

 is growing well, maintains good foliage to the tip of the branches and 

 is otherwise apparently strong, it may be expected to bear fruit in due 

 time. 



