56 BULLETIN 140, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



. While the hills of Massachusetts and Connecticut include a great 

 deal of ideal Baldwin soil, or soil that resembles the ideal closely 

 enough for practical purposes, they also include a great deal of soil 

 that is not so well adapted to the Baldwin. The greatly superior 

 color of the fruit from some orchards on mellow, friable loams, 

 when compared with that from others on a more retentive kind of 

 soil and subsoil — certain clay loams of the same series or moist 

 loams of a different series — elevation, slope, methods of culture, and 

 fertilization being virtually the same, gives striking evidence of the 

 importance of the soil factor. On just this basis the fruit from 

 some orchards sells for a higher price than that from others. This 

 illustrates the economic advisability of selecting the orchard site 

 with soils adapted to the variety to be planted. 



SOILS FAVORABLE FOR THE RHODE ISLAND GREENING. 



As the best prices for the Rhode Island Greening are usually 

 obtained in New York City the majority of commercial growers 

 have aimed to meet the preference of that market. The demand 

 there for a " green " Greening has usually been stronger than for 

 one carrying a high blush; and while individual buyers may be 

 found, it is said, who do not discriminate against the latter, many 

 of them do. Not infrequently the " green " Greening brings a pre- 

 mium of 25 cents or more a barrel over the " blush " Greening. Of 

 even more importance sometimes is the fact that a " green " Greening 

 will move on a slow market when a " blush " Greening fails to do so. 

 There is also a trade objection to the " blush " Greening from the 

 fact that the consumer is rarely able to distinguish it from Mon- 

 mouth, a red-cheeked green apple, which does not serve at all well 

 the purpose for which the Greening is usually bought. In view of 

 these trade conditions the writer has especially sought those soil 

 characteristics which best contribute to the production of a " green " 

 Greening, and in previous writings or in meetings addressed, the soil 

 adaptations for the Rhode Island Greening have been described with 

 the green type of apple as the standard sought. Bearing this ideal 

 in mind, the soils adapted to this variety are distinct from the 

 Baldwin standard. A surface soil of heavy silty loam or light silty 

 clay loam underlain by silty clay loam excels for the " green " Rhode 

 Island Greening. Such soil will retain sufficient moisture to be 

 classed as a moist soil, yet it is not so heavy as ever to be ill-drained 

 if surface drainage is adequate. The soil should be moderately rich 

 in organic matter, decidedly more so than for the Baldwin. In 

 contrast to the Baldwin soil in the growth of corn, it should keep the 

 lower leaves of the plant green until harvesting time, or at least until 

 late in the season. Such soil conditions maintain a long seasonal 



