4i8 FRUIT CULTURE FOR PROFIT. 



always a bad soil. Thorough and deep drainage is 

 necessary when dealing with wet land about to be planted 

 with fruit trees, and this draining improves the climate as 

 well as the soil. 



Chalk or gravel would seem to be a better subsoil than 

 clay, as the latter, especially if wet, favours the develop- 

 ment of canker. As to soils for the different fruits, 

 I would prefer for apples a medium loam ; for plums, 

 pears, and cherries, a light warm loam ; for strawberries 

 a light rich loam, cool and moist, with ready access 

 to water ; for raspberries a deep light loam, also cool 

 and moist ; for gooseberries and currants a deep strong 

 loam. But I would not convey the impression that 

 these soils are necessary ; in well-drained soils cul- 

 tivation may be safely extended even to strong or 

 clayey loams. 



3. Selection of Sorts. In this part of the business there 

 is perhaps no guide so safe as that of actual experience. 

 Sorts that are known to grow well and bear well in any 

 particular district may, provided the produce sells well, 

 be safely planted there. But this experience is always 

 limited. Valuable guides in the selection of sorts are also 

 to be found in the period of flowering, and the frost- 

 resisting powers of the blossoms. 



As regards the period of flowering, some sorts flower 

 early, others late. A difference of three or four days 

 often makes the difference of a crop or no crop, as in those 

 three or four days a frost happens that destroys the 

 embryo of the early or expanded blossoms which leaves 

 the unfolded buds unscathed ; and this frost may not 

 occur again in the same season. Then as to the frost- 

 resisting power of the blossoms. This is not the same 

 in all cases ; some varieties appear naturally less sus- 

 ceptible of frost than others. Again, in some I have 

 observed that the embryo is better protected by the size, 

 form, and substance of the petals which surround it. In 

 some cases the petals, when unfolding, fall into a hori- 



