UNPROFITABLE PLANTATIONS. 



"~N^ RUIT growers are a long time 



==:: ^ in learning that the principles 

 of success in other lines apply 

 with equal force to their busi- 

 ness. Every fruit farm has acres of 

 orchard which yield no profit because not 

 properly utilized. One of the first les- 

 sons to be learned is, the soils that are 

 suited to the various fruits. 



The apple is easily satisfied, and will 

 grow on a great variety of soils — from 

 heavy to light — but on light soil there is 

 often too much wood growth and too 

 little color. The best results so far as 

 our observation goes, are obtained in 

 clay, or where a clay subsoil is covered 

 with a few inches of sandy loam. Such 

 soil, if well tilled and enriched, gives 

 highly colored and large sized Baldwins, 

 Spys and Cranberry Pippins, which on 

 light sand are irregular in size and 

 quality, and the King, unproductive on 

 the latter soil, was fairly productive on 

 clay. The pear and the plum, especial- 

 ly, demand a clayey soil, well tilled, for 

 the best success, and in such soil they 

 will be much more fruitful than on a 

 light sand ; and the pear especially will 

 take on a finer color. This we have 

 noted especially in the case of the Bart- 

 lett, the Flemish Beauty, and the Clair- 

 geau. 



It is astonishing what endurance the 

 pear and the plum have of even poor 

 soils. An apple orchard was planted at 

 Maplehurst on a poorly drained clay 

 soil, with " hard pan " subsoil. The 

 apples were worthless — too small to 

 pay for gathering. Pears planted in the 

 same soil were a success. 



The cherry and the peach, on the 

 other hand, most fastidiously demand a 

 sandy loam, well drained, and will not 

 thrive on clay. 



The cherry tree is particularly 



fastidious over soil. On sandy soil, 

 well tilled, it makes extraordinary wood 

 growth, young branches of the sweet 

 cherry class, such as Napoleon or 

 Spanish, often making two feet of stocky 

 new growth in the months of June and 

 July. In sod, if on sand, therefore, the 

 growth is good, and many fooohshly 

 allow their trees to go untilled, when 

 cultivation would double their returns. 



On heavy soil the cherry is not usual- 

 ly a success. 



Peaches at Maplehurst planted on 

 clay loam and well cultivated, made 

 poor growth, and much sickly wood. 

 The fruit was small, though highly 

 -colored, and after one or two crops the 

 trees began to lose their vitality and die 

 by degrees ; while those on high sandy 

 loam, grew with great vigor and lived to 

 twenty and twenty-five years of age. A 

 neighbor, Mr. George Smith, who keeps 

 a Jersey herd and fertilizes heavily, has 

 a fine Early Crawford orchard on sandy 

 soil, which yielded an average of seven 

 baskets per tree of magnificent highly 

 colored peaches, and pay an almost 

 incredible income per acre, while other 

 orchards of the same variety, on unsuit- 

 able soil, are an actual loss to the 

 owner. The peach orchards of the 

 Niagara and Essex districts also are 

 planted on sandy soil. 



The grape will succeed on either 

 sand or clay, but we have noticed that 

 on sand there is more mildew, more 

 wood growth, and less fruit than on 

 heavier soil. Pattison, a grower on 

 clay, claims that his Concords ripen a 

 week earlier than others planted on 

 sand, and are sweeter in flavor. 



On uncultivated land the grape is 

 almost barren. It is a gross feeder, 

 reaching out its rootlets eight or ten feet 

 in every direction in loose soil, and 



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