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tive. Such trees very often fall a prey to the attack of insect and 

 fungoid pests, unless these are vigorously kept down. Peaches, 

 nectarines, almonds, figs, vines, melons, and tomatoes will, with care, 

 produce good crops on such soils. 



Deep trenching, wherever the subsoil is of a heavy nature, or 

 top-dressing with clay, swamp or river mud, or farmyard manure will 

 considerably alter and improve the texture of such soils. So also 

 will green manuring or the ploughing in of some green crop, 

 preferably a leguminous crop. 



Deep gravelly loams constitute a better orchard soil, and the 

 hardier fruits will do well on it. For vines and cherries it is very 

 well adapted. 



Strong loams are about the best all-round orchard soils. The 

 trees grown on them do not, as a rule, bear quite so early as on 

 more sandy loams, as the growth of wood is more vigorous and 

 fruit-buds are not so soon formed and matured, but they are more 

 vigorous and hence less liable to the attacks of pests, and they live 

 and bear longer. Apples, pears, gooseberries, raspberries, straw- 

 berries, and all kinds of fruit will do well on such soils, which, 

 besides being richer in the constituents of plant food, retain 

 moisture better than does a light sandy loam, which does not rest 

 on a stronger subsoil. 



Heavy loams, with a large admixture of clay, make very good 

 fruit soils whenever well drained, either naturally or artificially. 

 Apple, pear, plum, apricot, cherry, and quince will thrive on such 

 soils, and withstand the attacks of fruit pests with better result. 

 On the heavier soils, pear and plum will do best of all, provided 

 the climate suits the pear, which, in this respect, is more particular 

 than the plum. Such soils are not so suitable for vines ; in wet 

 weather they are difficult to cultivate. 



Heavy clay, unless deeply drained and limed, should better be 

 left alone by the fruit growers. 



The site of the vineyard or orchard having been selected, it 

 remains to clear it, if it has not yet been previously put under 

 cultivation, and to prepare the soil for the plough. Autumn is the 

 best time for ploughing, when the rain has softened the earth. 

 Hand trenching is always a very costly operation, and, except when 

 the patch to be planted is very small, can better be dispensed with. 

 The vine, however, like all other fruit trees that occupy the ground 

 for a number of years, does best in a thoroughly stirred soil; The 

 character of the soil regulates, to a great extent, the depth of the 

 ploughing a moderate depth is sufficient in rich loose loams, while 

 conversely, in poorer soils or heavy clays, the plough should be run 



It is reckoned that one inch of rainfall, covering one acre of 

 ground, is equal to 100 tons of water per acre ; similarly, taking the 

 density of the soil as two, as compared with water, we get for every 

 inch deeper we stir the soil 200 tons of earth per acre, which, by 



