Locality and Site for the Commercial Orchard 131 



somewhat general description will imply that the apple 

 might find a suitable soil habitat in almost all of our 

 better general farming regions, and this fact is attested by 

 the very wide distribution of apple plantings throughout 

 the United States. 



Good drainage and soil depth are prime soil requisites 

 for apple land. Natural drainage is essential since the 

 apple tree does not thrive with wet feet. A subsoil depth 

 of at least six or eight feet is necessary to insure proper 

 root development and a sufficiently large water reservoir. 

 The presence of hardpan, ledges of rock, or similar strata, 

 within a few feet of the surface tends to obstruct root 

 growth and the capillary movement of soil-moisture, and 

 for this reason is highly undesirable, if not prohibitive. 

 Deep-rooted leguminous crops such as alfalfa may remedy 

 soil defects of this nature, while dynamiting tree holes be- 

 fore planting can be depended on to loosen up the subsoil 

 to a greater or less extent. It is much safer, however, 

 to avoid all shallow soils or those with the objectionable 

 subsoil strata. In one widely advertised apple region, 

 dynamiting all tree holes before planting was recom- 

 mended and universally practiced. All the trees grew 

 well until they attained four or five years of age, at which 

 tim6 the root system began to permeate soils unaffected 

 by the dynamite and the result was a greatly checked 

 growth. It would, therefore, seem advisable to select a 

 soil in which dynamiting is not necessary, although the 

 practice may be beneficial in some instances. 



In non-irrigated sections, soil depth has an even greater 

 significance, namely in the conservation of soil-moisture 

 against drought. The importance of an upward movement 

 of moisture by capillarity is well known. If an imperme- 



