ORCHARD SOILS 669 



on soils rich neither in lime nor potash. In Florida a dense growth of 

 palmettos is Hkely to indicate an undesirable hardpan or subsoil; such 

 soils should be avoided in citrus fruit plantings. 



Not only are the kinds of native trees or plants useful in determining 

 the value of a soil for fruit growing, but the type of growth that these 

 species make is of equal significance. Thus Vosbury" states, "Most of 

 the recent citrus plantings in Florida have been made on high pinelands. 

 Three grades of high pineland are recognized. The best grade is charac- 

 terized by large straight-growing pines with occasional oaks, hickories, 

 or other hardwood trees. The soil is a sandy loam, fairly rich in humus, 

 and is underlaid with a clay subsoil at a depth of 6 feet or less. In 

 second-grade pinelands the pine trees are smaller and there are few or no 

 hardwoods, while the subsoil is further from the surface. In the third 

 or poorer grade the pines are still smaller and scrubbier and the clay 

 subsoil far below the surface soil." 



The soils picked as especially suited to certain field crops in some 

 sections are less likely to furnish a reliable guide to their suitability to 

 certain fruits. In New England apples will generally do well in those 

 soils considered best suited to corn, for only the lighter earlier soils are 

 able properly to mature that crop in that section, but in Illinois the best 

 corn land is quite different in character and the best apple land is outside 

 the corn belt. 



ADAPTATION OF VARIETIES TO PARTICULAR SOILS 



In addition to the more or less general soil requirements for different 

 kinds of fruits that have been mentioned, particular varieties or groups 

 exhibit certain soil preferences. 



For instance, in speaking of soil adaptations of plums, Hedrick^^ 

 states that the Domesticas and Insititias grow most satisfactorily on rich 

 clay loams, while the Trifloras, Hortulanas and Munsonianas give best 

 results on light soils. These group names, however, represent distinct 

 species and consequently differences greater than those usual between 

 varieties of the same kind of fruit. 



Wilder,^^ who has made a special study of the fruit soils of southern New 

 England, makes the following statements regarding the special soil requirements 

 of certain well known apple varieties: "Soils grading from medium to semi-light 

 fulfill the best requirements of the Baldwin. This grouping would include the 

 medium to light loams, the heavy sandy loams, and also the medium sandy loams, 

 provided they were underlaid by soil material not lighter than a medium loam 

 nor heavier than a Ught or medium clay loam of friable structure." From this 

 broad generalization it will be seen that the surface soil should contain an ap- 

 preciable amount of sand. The sands, moreover, should not be all of one grade, 



