ADAPTATION OF VARIETIES TO SOILS II 



tremendous range of soils in any state, and it is found, when 

 other conditions are equalized, that certain varieties of apples give 

 the best results on certain kinds of soil. 



It is not uncommon to find one orchardist who thinks that the 

 point of chief consideration should be variety ; another, climate ; an- 

 other, tillage or sod mulching; another, spraying; another, pruning; 

 another, fertilizers ; and so on. Several of these factors usually 

 receive careful thought from orchardists, but relatively few men will 

 claim not to have neglected some of them. The point needing 

 emphasis is that while all these elements are essential, no one is of 

 much avail except in conjunction with all the others. Thus, all the 

 other conditions will avail little if the soil is not well selected ; yet 

 the character of the soil is of little importance if the trees do not 

 receive proper care after planting. The orchardist should choose 

 soil that is generally suitable for orcharding, and on such given soil 

 he should plant only those varieties to which it is best adapted. 



The necessity for soil-variety selection is most forcibly illustrated 

 by the experiences of fruit growers who have found orcharding 

 profitable. There are very few, even of the most prominent growers, 

 who have not found, at marked cost and with years of waiting, that 

 certain varieties of fruit would not succeed under the conditions 

 which they were able to supply. Yet the reason for this has rarely 

 been investigated seriously, and failure, when it comes, is commonly 

 ascribed to the climate or to some inherent fault of the variety. 

 Then the grower often does untold harm by the announcement that 

 this or that variety is not adapted to the surrounding locality. He 

 is honest in his opinion, and his experience, from the very circum- 

 stances of the case, will be largely accepted. Yet other soils in the 

 locality, or even soil on another part of that particular farm, may be 

 favorable to this rejected variety, which may possess good commer- 

 cial possibilities. This is an illustration of the fact that all other 

 circumstances combined, though favorable, are insufficient for the 

 production of any variety if the proper soil is not selected. Yet 

 other varieties may have been growing eminently well upon the 

 soil tested. 



In view of such facts it is not strange that there is a rapidly 

 growing commercial demand for such knowledge of the soil as will 

 enable the grower to know how to avoid planting those varieties not 



