160 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



CHAPTER X. 



FRUITS. 



The growing of fruits to the extent at least of the demands 

 for his own use, should never be neglected by the farmer. 

 The soil and climate of the United States are almost every- 

 where suited to their cheap and easy production. They are 

 a source of profit for market purposes as well as useful to 

 stock ; and they afford some of the choicest and most eco- 

 nomical luxuries for domestic use. Success in their cultiva- 

 tion may at all times be secured by a judicious selection of 

 the fruit, the soil and location, and by proper attention 

 thereafter. 



THE APPLE. 



The locality of the apple orchard should depend much on 

 the climate and soil. In warm latitudes, a northerly expo- 

 sure is perhaps best when not subject to violent winds, as 

 these from any quarter are liable to blast the fruit while in 

 blossom, and blow it from the tree before it is ripe. It is 

 generally advantageous to protect an orchard from the bleak 

 winds which prevail in its immediate neighborhood by a 

 judicious selection of the ground. A warm and sunny posi- 

 tion subjects the buds in spring to premature swelling, and 

 these are often cut ofFby the severe spring frosts that follow, 

 when an ordinary or northern exposure would retard their 

 budding until the season was sufficiently advanced for their 

 protection. The orchard should have a medium position as 

 to exposure and the influences of the season. 



SOIL. All the varieties intermediate between a stiff, 

 unyielding clay and a light shifting sand, are friendly to the 

 apple. The soil best suited to the perfection of fruit is a 

 moist, friable, calcareous loam, slightly intermixed with fine 

 gravel. This may run either into a sandy loam, which 

 usually rests upon a sub soil of sand or gravel j or into a 



