APPLES 



95 



Nanot,*** in his treatise upon tlie cider 

 apple, thus speaks of the soil as bearing 

 upon this fruit: 



The apple is not very particular as to 

 the nature of the soil; it neither dislikes 

 very clayey, very limey, nor very sandy 

 soils, but the best flavored and longest 

 keeping fruits come from trees grown on 

 clay loam. 



Dr. L. H. Bailey,*** speaking of apple 

 growing in the Eastern United States, 

 says: 



As a rule, rather light or loamy soils, 

 with deep and porous subsoils, are best 

 adapted to apple growing. Natural drain- 

 age is imperative. Apple trees are Im- 

 patient of wet feet. 



At a meeting of the Oregon State Hor- 

 ticultural Society, held in Newberg in 

 1901, E. L. Smith made the following 

 statements while speaking briefly of the 

 apple: 



Apples grown on sandy soil will weigh 

 much less per bushel than those grown on 

 clay or clayey soils, other conditions be- 

 ing equal. Apples to be long keepers 

 must be grown on soil having some clay. 



In reply to a question relative to this 

 point. Col. G. B. Brackett, the pomologist 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 writes (1904): "I know of no experiments 

 along this line, but I am inclined to think 

 that apples grown upon clay loam, other 

 conditions being equal, would be some- 

 what heavier than those grown upon 

 light, sandy soil. I know that apples that 

 are grown on heavy clay soil are apt to 

 keep better than those grown upon light, 

 sandy, porous soil. Of course, keeping 

 qualities depend somewhat upon latitude, 

 and also upon the elevation at which they 

 are grown." 



From somewhat extended general ob- 

 servations in the apple orchards of West- 

 ern Oregon during the past decade or 

 more, I am convinced that much of our 

 soil is admirably suited to the apple tree. 

 The land upon which the Douglas fir 

 thrives, when not too steep and rocky, is 

 usually well adapted to the culture of 

 this fruit. The alluvial soils of the minor 



••* Le Culture du Pomme a Cidre, 1895. 

 • ••• Field Notes on Apple Culture, 1893. 



valleys \vhen of a depth of eight to twelve 

 feet or more produce thrifty, vigorous, 

 long-lived trees. Some of the best old 

 orchards in the state are located upon 

 the gentle rolling lower hill lands of Yam- 

 hill county, while some of the cleanest 

 and thriftiest of the younger generation 

 orchards are to be found on the red hill 

 lands of Polk and Marion counties. In 

 the selection of a site on the higher ele- 

 vations, or even upon the lower hill lands, 

 care must be exercised to the end that 

 shallow soils may be avoided. Streaks, 

 patches, or larger areas of these lands 

 are occasionally underlaid at a depth of 

 a few feet by strata of impervious rock. 

 Such sites are wholly unfit for orchards. 

 Only a close and thoughtful inspection of 

 hill land tracts will enable one to avoid 

 setting trees on soil too shallow for the 

 successful growth of long-lived and fruit- 

 ful trees. 



Many excellent small orchards are to 

 be found upon the river bottom lands in 

 all parts of the Willamette valley. While 

 these latter sites are well suited to the 

 growth of the apple tree, it is probable 

 that better returns horticulturally may 

 be obtained by the cultivation upon such 

 sites of the smaller fruits and the choicer 

 vegetables, especially when nearby mar- 

 kets are reasonably good. The latter 

 crops cannot be grown upon the higher 

 lands with the same degree of success as 

 attend their culture upon the river bot- 

 toms, while with the apple there is no 

 apparent difference save, perhaps, in the 

 degree of earliness with which the trees 

 begin to bear profitable crops. 



Generally speaking, orchards upon bot- 

 tom lands will begin to bear from one to 

 three years later than those upon the 

 higher lands. There are well known in- 

 stances in which trees planted upon river 

 bottom land, as a result of an abundance 

 of water, have extended their vegetative 

 period three to four years beyond the 

 normal period of the same varieties when 

 grown upon correspondingly good upland 

 sites. The economics of horticulture 

 would appear to point toward the uplands 

 as affording the more promising sites for 

 the apple orchard, since the value of such 

 lands will not increase as fast as that of 



