14 POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



in a new place the pioneers often labor under the disadvantage 

 of not having enough of their product to make it worth while to 

 ship it. This difficulty can be overcome in new sections by 

 starting the industry on a large scale so that shipments may 

 be made in carload lots and by co-operation in selling. 



Soils. The only sure way of determining the value of a soil 

 for a particular fruit is by field-trial, because so many factors 

 enter into the makeup of a good fruit soil that it is easy to make 

 mistakes, and yet the best fruit soils have many evident points 

 in common. There is hardly any soil but which under favorable 

 conditions will be found adapted to some class of fruits. For 

 instance, the pear prefers a rather heavy clay soil; the peach 

 and cherry quite open and porous soils. The strawberry and 

 blackberry will often do well on soil too sandy for other fruits 

 although either one suffers from drought on a heavy soil. The 

 currant and gooseberry prefer an open clay loam but will adapt 

 themselves to almost any location. Then there are locations, such 

 as the lands adapted to the Yellow Newtown or Albemarle Pippin 

 apple in Virginia, so wondrously fitted to special fruits that it 

 seems impossible to raise these in perfection elsewhere. 



In the case of apples and many other tree fruits the condition 

 of the subsoil is generally of more importance than the surface 

 soil, although the condition of the latter must not be overlooked. 

 It is desirable to have a surface soil that can be cultivated easily 

 and will not bake hard after rains. Soil that is extremely rich 

 in plant food is usually undesirable for apples, pears and peaches, 

 especially if too rich in nitrogen. On such land the trees 

 generally grow large and frequently do not bear until quite 

 mature. The unripened buds and wood, common under such con- 

 ditions, kill back in winter and the vigorous growth of early sum- 

 mer seems to be predisposed to fire blight or similar diseases. 



Loess loam is the name given to an open clay soil which 

 is made up largely of clay and small shells. On such land we 

 generally find in the North a vigorous growth of maple, hack- 

 berry and white oak. It is perhaps the best kind of an all 

 around fruit soil and any of our fruits will do well in it. 



A limestone soil, where the roots can reach the underlying 

 lime rock or soil and which has much lime in its makeup, is 

 especially favorable for all our fruits and comes next to or may 



