58 



FUNDAMENTALS OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



pansion of the root system was in the 4- to 8-inch layer, there was a 

 fairly large number of roots 20 inches deeper. There was also much 

 better expansion of the root system at both upper and lower levels in 

 the drier soil than in the one classed by Jones as a little too wet for the 

 best growth of the apple tree. The question is raised by Jones as to 

 whether interlacing of roots is not evidence that for a number of years 

 these trees had been suffering from lack of room, a suggestion supported 

 by the indifferent performance of the orchard for some time previous. 



Table 30 shows the length of the roots, in feet, found in each cubic 

 foot of soil at successive distances from the tree trunk. These measure- 

 ments were taken for a Milding apple tree 9.33 inches in diameter 2 feet 

 from the ground, with an 11-foot spread of branches, and growing in a 

 stony loam. The last column shows the computed length of roots for the 

 cylinder of soil 1 foot in thickness surrounding the tree at a given distance 

 from the trunk, assuming that the section examined is typical for the 

 entire area of which the tree is the center. Figure 6 shows graphically 

 the data presented in Table 30. They afford some idea of the relatively 

 extensive development of a tree's root system under conditions that are 



Table 30. — Root Distribution of a 25-year Old Apple Tree, Measured by 



Sections 

 (After Jones''^) 



