BUSH FRUIT PRODUCTION 



mum growth. It requires something which 

 cannot be written in books but which is born 

 of experience and intimate contact with plants, 

 a skill which soon comes to the gardener who 

 observes and thinks and tries to understand. 



Bush Fruit Soils 



Most of the bush fruits are quite cosmo- 

 politan in their soil requirements. With the 

 possible exception of blueberries, each may 

 be grown successfully on a fairly wide range 

 of soil types. Where several bush fruits are 

 grown together, medium sandy or clay loams 

 of considerable depth are best, for they com- 

 bine in a measure the easy working qualities 

 of sandy soils with the moisture retaining and 

 plant food holding characters of the heavier 

 t5^es. 



Wet, heavy soils are difficult to work and 

 growth cannot be controlled. They usually 

 are soggy late in spring and in autumn they 

 encourage plants to grow until freezes kill the 

 leaves. Then the plants, not properly hard- 

 ened, are likely to suffer more or less winter 

 injury. When part of a bush fruit plantation 

 extends into an area where the soil is wet 

 and heavy, winterkilling is almost invariably 

 worst in that spot. 



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