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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



trees but an abundance of excellent and 

 beautiful fruit. 



The subsoil is an important factor in 

 the planting of trees, and its quality and 

 character should be understood. It is 

 closer and more firm than the top soil, 

 and retains moisture longer, but it may 

 be made up of such fine particles of clay 

 and with so little vegetable matter in it 

 as to be impervious to water, and this 

 constitutes what is known as hard pan, 

 and if this lies up to within a foot of the 

 top soil, trees will not thrive in it. neither 

 will they produce much or good fruit. 



Such formation near the surface pre- 

 vents the water in the soil below from 

 rising to supply the needs of vegetation, 

 through long periods of drought. Where 

 a hard pan formation may exist from 

 six to ten feet below the surface, it is of 

 great value, for there a certain moisture 

 supply is assured through dry seasons, 

 especially where frequent cultivation is 

 given to the surface soil. 



Hox. Geo. T. Powell, 



President Agricultural Experts Association, 

 New York. 



New Mexico Soils 



In many of the old treatises on apple 

 culture we find it stated that the apple 

 prefers a heavy soil. The more recent au- 

 thorities on the subject modify this state- 

 ment by saying that it is quite cosmopoli- 

 tan in its adaptability to soil. In New 

 Mexico a heavy or an adobe soil, as found 

 in some of the valley lands, is not so 

 suitable for apple trees as a good, strong 

 and deep loamy soil with a stratum of 

 heavy clay underlying it. A heavy soil 

 of one or two feet in depth underlaid by 

 sand or gravel is not good for apple trees. 

 On the other hand, a soil ranging from 

 five to seven or more feet in depth of a 

 good, strong, loamy character and under- 

 laid by a heavy adobe stratum is an 

 ideal location, 



Fabian Gaecia, 

 Santa Fe, N. M. 



Upland Soil 



Upland timber soil, particularly that 

 known . as "White Oak Soil," Is well 

 adapted for orcharding. Loess soil is good 

 also, as the roots can penetrate it readily. 



Black prairie soils are often very rich in 

 nitrogen, which causes an excess of leaf 

 and wood growth late in the season. This 

 lessens the production of fruit buds and 

 makes the tree more liable to winter in- 

 jury. 



A. T. Ervvin, 

 G. R. Bliss, 



Ames. Iowa. 



Oregon Soils 



Upon this very important phase of or- 

 chard-making, all authorities are practi- 

 cally agreed. From the old orchards, and 

 especially the old trees of both Europe 

 and America, the West and East, the 

 same lessons are learned. With one ac- 

 cord these trees, though separated by 

 leagues of land and water, proclaim the 

 creed of the apple tree — complete air and 

 water drainage, and a deep, loamy soil. 



Speaking upon this topic about 200 

 years ago. Miller, an English authority, 

 said: 



A gentle hazel loam, which is easy to 

 work and does not retain the wet, is the 

 best. Although these trees will grow 

 on very strong land they are seldom so 

 thriving, nor is the fruit so well flavored 

 as upon trees grown on a gentle soil. Dry, 

 sandy, or gravelly soils are wholly unfit 

 for the apple tree. 



Delaville,* writing upon the subject of 

 soils suitable to fruit culture in France, 

 says: 



A good soil for all fruit trees is com- 

 posed of equal parts of sand, clay, and 

 lime. 



Baltet,** a popular French horticultural 

 writer, in discussing the subject of soils 

 desirable for the apple, remarks that: 



A wheat soil is the soil for the apple 

 tree when grown as a standard. 



The importance of thorough drainage 

 in connection with a good soil is em- 

 phasized by the same author in these 

 words: 



The fruit of the apple is largest in the 

 humid valleys, but best flavored on the 

 hills and dry table lands, the excess of 

 humidity, as the need of free air, inducing 

 canker and favoring the aphis. 



* Cours Practique D'Arboriculture Fruitiere, 

 1897. 



•• Tiaite de la Culture Fruitiere. 1900. 



