No. 4.] SOIL IN FRUIT CULTURE. 57 



THE SOIL: IMPORTANCE OF ITS CHARACTER FOR 

 THE CULTURE OF FRUIT. 



BY MR. GEORGE T. POWELL, NEW YORK CITY. 



It gives me pleasure to meet you again, as heretofore, 

 in the discussion of subjects which are of vital interest. 



When we consider the possibilities of the soil in its power 

 of production, its variety, its capacity for improvement and 

 wealth-making, and its adaptability, it becomes an object of 

 much interest. 



The earth is a o-reat storehouse, in which food is elab- 

 orated and prepared for plants and animals ; and the more 

 we stud}' and investigate it, the greater the interest becomes 

 to those Avho own a piece of land, to discover and bring out 

 its wonderful possibilities. 



One of the first problems of the owner of land is to know 

 the character of the soil, its condition and its adaptability 

 to the purposes for which he wants it. Upon the character 

 of the soil depends very largel}^ the success of those inter- 

 ested in its management. There is a wide difference in 

 soils. There are the clays, sand, silt, shales, loams and 

 muck, all diflt'ering in character. These are derived from 

 the rock formations of different periods of past ages. In 

 the early formation of the earth, ages of time elapsed before 

 there was any form of life. Through the agency of water 

 the rocks were washed and worn and disintegrated, until 

 soil began to be made. Vegetable life, in turn, in its lower 

 forms, began gradually to appear, and for ages it increased 

 and decomposed, furnishing certain elements in the soil. 

 Likewise animal life of land and Avater came into existence, 

 and for generations and other ages their decomposed bodies 



