SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 49 



though somewhat more extensively in the latter State. The percent- 

 age of such hardpan areas is not great. It is probable that they may 

 be remedied by dynamite used in sufficient quantities to break up 

 the hardpan effectively, this to be followed and supplemented by 

 the use of deep-rooted leguminous cover crops to keep the shattered 

 hardpan friable, but until the price of naturally good orchard land 

 in the East is much higher than now it is unquestionably better eco- 

 nomics to select soils which do not need the dynamite treatment to 

 render them fit for planting fruit trees. 



In a given block of orchard where a layer of hardpan is found at 

 depths ranging from 15 to 30 inches, careful records for a number of 

 years indicate that poor color with both Baldwin and Northern 

 Spy is characteristic. In other cases, not alone in Connecticut, 

 Yellow Bellflower is usually knotty when grown on hardpan soils. 



In several orchards with surface soil of Gloucester loam but un- 

 derlain in places with hardpan at depths of 18 to 24 inches and com- 

 bined with a somewhat retentive subsoil, it is found impossible to 

 grow Baldwin with good color if the orchard is cultivated. The 

 character of the deep-soil section is such that the soil would be 

 classed as somewhat moist, better for grass than for corn or potatoes, 

 and so less conducive to good color of Baldwin than a soil less moist 

 and warmer. This the owner wisely recognizes and so keeps his 

 orchard in sod and removes the hay — a method usually condemned 

 and properly so — but in this case well adapted to the conditions, for 

 by transpiration of moisture through the grass plants the excess of 

 soil moisture is reduced, thus making the soil warmer, and while 

 the fruit is dark and dull colored at harvest time it reaches a beau- 

 tiful color in midwinter, the flavor is well developed, the texture 

 fine, and the keeping qualities remarkably good. 



This case is mentioned in some detail because it illustrates so aptly 

 the fact that cultural methods should always be flexible rather than 

 absolute, and so fit the soil conditions of the individual orchard. 

 If the soil is too retentive of moisture, evaporation should be hastened 

 by noncultivation and also, if necessary, by transpiration through 

 growing a crop. If the soil tends to dry out too quickly, cultivation 

 should be frequent and a good supply of humus maintained to con- 

 serve the moisture. While such manipulation of method to suit the 

 circumstances in the individual orchards should constantly be made 

 use of, it has its limitations and does not do away at all with the de- 

 sirability of selecting the soils best adapted to the individual va- 

 riety ; that is, those soils which will require a minimum of manipula- 

 tion to effect the best soil environment. Such soil adaptation serves 

 as a guidance, furthermore, to the moisture requirements of the 



55570°— Bull, 140—15 4 



