718 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 570. 



investigate a series of soils, keeping constantly 

 our problem in mind, we shall find that the 

 essential characteristics — such as moisture 

 supply, retention of plant food and consequent 

 extensive root growth— are all enhanced as 

 the subsoil becomes heavier in texture until 

 the stage is reached where the roots find their 

 progress somewhat hindered mechanically. 

 Beyond this stage of fineness in texture it is 

 ill-advised to go, for diminished returns from 

 the orchard will be sure to follow in propor- 

 tion as this limit is exceeded. While this 

 point of texture might be fixed theoretically, 

 it is obvious that it may not be so decided 

 from a practical working standpoint, and even 

 if it could be there are probably too few soils 

 of this exact nature in regions possessing the 

 other favorable attributes to supply the apple 

 trade. There are a great many soils, however, 

 whose subsoils are sufiiciently near this ideal 

 to bring satisfactory results. Such subsoils 

 range from very heavy sandy loams to clay 

 loams, limited only as already mentioned, thus 

 including the broad class of loams which in- 

 crease in desirability as they approach the clay 

 loams. 



Inasmuch as the subsoils described can be 

 depended upon largely to contain the optimum, 

 or at least favorable, supply of moisture, and 

 to maintain until needed a corresponding con- 

 centration of all available plant food, it fol- 

 lows that with them the conditions are sup- 

 plied to produce a satisfactory growth of tree 

 for a long term of years, provided a sufiicient 

 supply of plant food exists in the soil. If the 

 surface soil be too heavy, however, any one 

 or more of several unfavorable results might 

 follow. When the young tree is transplanted 

 from the nursery a great deal depends upon its 

 ability to establish a healthy, normal and ex- 

 tensive root system the first year. This must 

 be done at first within the limits of the surface 

 soil, and is impossible of realization unless 

 that medium is so mellow and non-resisting 

 that the tiny roots and fibrils may be free to 

 develop in all directions. These conditions 

 are manifestly best obtained in soils not 

 heavier than a medium loam nor lighter than 

 a medium sandy loam. Eeady drainage of 

 the surface soil, which is also imperative. 



would be impaired if the soil were too heavy, 

 and the detrimental effect would be apparent 

 not only in the limited growth of tree and its 

 ability to resist disease, but also when the tree 

 should reach its bearing stage, in the coloring 

 of its fruit. 



The influence of the character of the soil 

 is again felt, especially in the more northern 

 districts, in the opportune time of the ma- 

 turity of the fruit. Apples grown on light 

 sandy soil are often ready for picking before 

 the weather is suitable to place them in or- 

 dinary storage, while if placed in cold storage 

 the attending expense is much greater than 

 for fruit which matures later. On the other 

 hand, trees grown on clay, or the heaviest 

 clay loams, may continue their growth so late 

 in the season that the fruit does not reach the 

 most desirable state of maturity before it must 

 be gathered, and the trees themselves are not 

 so well prepared to withstand the severities of 

 the winter climate. 



The color of the fruit when harvested, 

 furthermore, can be best only when the fruit 

 has reached the proper stage of maturity be- 

 fore it must be picked. It is understood, of 

 course, that no soil can produce highly colored 

 fruit unless the trees are so trimmed and 

 trained as to admit sunlight freely. Assum- 

 ing that this has been done on all soils alike, 

 and holding our comparison to data gathered 

 under identical, or at least very similar, cli- 

 matic conditions, then it may be stated that 

 highly colored fruit may be best obtained on 

 soils not heavier than the limit already given. 

 Fruit of excellent color, nevertheless, may be 

 grown on very sandy soils, as was said in con- 

 nection with that class of soils, but unsatis- 

 factory tree growth more than offsets this 

 desirable characteristic and so eliminates such 

 soils from serious consideration. It is thus 

 seen that the most desirable soils from the 

 color standpoint fall within the range of tex- 

 ture most desirable from the other points of 

 view already considered. 



The fact that unsuccessful orchards are f re- : 

 quently seen on the classes of soils already 

 designated as desirable for apple culture raost 

 often indicates some form of neglect in meth- 

 ods of culture, including the mechanical con- 



