CHAPTER 111 

 THE FRUIT SOILS OF CALIFORNIA 



The favoring characteristics of the California climates, which 

 have been described, find their fitting complement in the adaptation 

 of the California soils to the perfect development of fruit-bearing 

 tree and vine. In their wonderful variety and consequent great 

 range of special adaptations within narrow limits of area, our soils 

 also resemble our climates. As a man may sometimes find within 

 the boundaries of an ordinary-sized farm such a difference of 

 atmospheric conditions that the same fruit will thrive in one spot 

 and not in another, so he may find differences in soil which will 

 tend to produce the same results. For this reason the precise spot 

 in which to plant any given fruit must be chosen with regard to 

 both soil and exposure. In the chapters devoted to the several 

 fruits, there will be an attempt made to describe the soil require- 

 ments of each, so that the inexperienced planter may not err 

 seriously in choosing the location for each kind of fruit he desires 

 to grow. While this is true, it will also appear in these special 

 chapters that the choice of roots upon which to bud or graft gives 

 the planter a certain latitude and independence. This is of greatest 

 value in the planting of home orchards, or orchards for local 

 markets, in regions where the soil is not what is usually preferred 

 for fruit production. With proper choice of stocks and wisdom and 

 diligence in cultivation, one need hardly despair of growing good 

 fruit on soil which will support any laudable plant growth. And 

 yet in commercial orcharding, the secret of which is producing 

 most abundantly and cheaply, too great attention can not be paid 

 to choice of specially adapted soils. 



It is an interesting fact that more complete and exact knowledge 

 exists of the soils of California than of any other State of the 

 Union, and for this knowledge the public is indebted to E. W. 

 Hilgard, Professor Emeritus of Agriculture, and Director of the 

 Agricultural Experiment Stations of the University of California 

 from 1875 to 1905. For the last thirty-three years he has given 

 all the time he could spare from many other and pressing duties, 

 to the examination, and, when needed, the analysis, of represen- 

 tative soil specimens, and to practical expositions of their nature, 

 adaptations, and requirements in the event of exhaustion from too 

 long cropping, and he has just published a general treatise entitled, 

 "Soils: Their Formation, Properties, Composition and Relations 

 to Climate and Plant Growth in the Humid and Arid Regions," 



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