SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 53 



medium to semilight apparently fulfill best the requirements of the 

 Baldwin, particularly under a system involving such average cul- 

 tivation as is usually practiced in commercial plantings. Following 

 definitely the classification standards of the Bureau of Soils with 

 reference to the proportions of clay, silt, and sands, this grouping 

 would include the medium to light loams, the heavy sandy loams, 

 and also the medium sandy loams provided they were underlain by 

 soil material not lighter than a medium loam nor heavier than a 

 light or medium clay loam of friable structure. 



From this broad generalization it will be seen that the surface 

 soil should contain an appreciable amount of sand. The sands, more- 

 over, should not be of one grade — that is, a high percentage of coarse 

 sand would give a poor soil, whereas a moderate admixture of it with 

 the finer grades of sand, together with sufficient clay and silt, would 

 work no harm. In general, the sand content should be of the finer 

 grades, but soils also occur, though comparatively rare, which would 

 be too heavy for this variety were it not for a marked content of the 

 coarse sands, the effect of which is to make the soil mass much more 

 friable and open than would be expected with the presence of so 

 much clay. Such conditions occur in parts of Perry County, Pa. Soil 

 types having characters as above described dry quickly after a rain, 

 and are not to be classed as moist soils. They will never clod if 

 worked under moisture conditions that are at all favorable. The 

 subsoil on the other hand must never be heavy enough to impede 

 ready drainage of excess moisture, and it should be sufficiently clayey 

 to retain a good moisture supply — that is, plastic, not stiff. If the 

 subsoil be so clayey or heavy that moisture does not percolate down 

 through it readily, or if the same result is caused by hardpan, a 

 Baldwin of poor color with a skin more or less greasy is the usual 

 result. The best results are secured, other circumstances being equal, 

 from warm and " kind " yet not too sandy soils. Such soils can be 

 so managed as to secure a sufficient but not excessive vegetative 

 growth, the proper balance between it and the growth of fruit being 

 readily maintained, a condition necessary to produce the best devel- 

 oped and highly colored fruit. 



On heavy loams where Baldwin matures slowly, and is dark and 

 dull at harvest time, the fruit sometimes possesses unusually good 

 keeping qualities, and in some cases the color develops satisfactorily 

 by midwinter. For storage such fruit is excellent. 



Another unfavorable soil condition was noted in several instances 

 in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. It is well illustrated in 

 an orchard where the cause of the unsatisfactory color of fruit is 

 due doubtless to the condition of the surface soil rather than to the 

 subsoil which is a well-drained yellow to light-brown friable loam or 



