16 POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



should generally be avoided for fruits. It dries out easily and 

 yet the surface soil, being of clay, becomes lumpy unless care- 

 fully handled. It has most of the disadvantages of both a stiff 

 clay and sandy soil. 



Topography. The topography of a country is the "lay of the 

 land;" i. e., whether hilly, rolling or flat. A rolling country gives 

 good water drainage and our cultivated fruits, with the exception 

 of the cranberry, are intolerant of surplus water in the soil. A 

 rolling country also gives many high slopes where there is com- 

 parative immunity from unseasonable frosts. Its various slopes 

 are adapted to a variety of crops. For these reasons good fruit 

 sections are generally located where the land is hilly but land 

 that is quite flat may sometimes prove valuable for fruit when 

 near large water areas so that there is secured comparative 

 immunity from frosts and when sufficiently elevated to secure 

 good drainage. As a rule, however, flat land is not well adapted 

 to fruit growing. 



The direction of the slope is an important matter, but one 

 which is so influenced by local conditions and by the class oJ 

 fruits which is to be grown that no definite rule can be given 

 In the Northern states, a northeast slope is generally regarded as 

 best for the tree fruits, as it warms up slowly in the spring and 

 the trees are less likely to start early and suffer injury from late 

 spring frosts and the hot, dry winds of summer. Locations near 

 large bodies of water, especially those so situated that the pre- 

 vailing winter winds blow across this water and are tempered by 

 it, are particularly favorable for fruit growing, as the danger 

 from frost injury is greatly reduced. The peach belt along the 

 eastern shore of Lake Michigan, which is as far north as south- 

 ern Minnesota, is a familiar example of the tempering effect of 

 water. It is possible to grow fruit in that locality, owing to the 

 freedom from frosts, which could not be produced some distance 

 farther south, in Indiana and Illinois, in districts where there is 

 no protection from cold northwest winds. 



BUSINESS ASPECT. 



Fruit Growing as a Business. Success in any business is 

 largely a personal matter and success in fruit growing likewise 



