EXPERIMENTS IN ORCHAr^D CULTURE. 9 



The above facts are worthy of more than passing notice. The 

 physical condition of soil is nearly always of more importance 

 than mere richness in plant food. The chemical composition of 

 a soil is not necessarily a measure of its productive capacity, since 

 plant food is of no consequence unless the plant can make use 

 of it. If now, there is sufficient material available to produce 

 only a stunted growth of trees and grass at the same time, it is 

 evident that the surface application of additional food may tem- 

 porarily stimulate the growth of both. Hard, lumpy soils, how- 

 ever, will not produce good crops, no matter how much fertilizer 

 may be applied, and there is no doubt that the number of "worn- 

 out" farms in New England is much smaller than is generally 



Figure (J. Cultivated plot in 1899. Talliuan in the foreground. 



supposed. The average New England hillside contains a suffi- 

 cient amount of food material, or nearly so, to insure good crops 

 if the land is properly handled ; and tillage, by improving the 

 texture of the soil, is the key to unlock this store of wealth. By 

 fining the soil, and thus increasing the feeding surface for the 

 roots ; by increasing the depth, and thus giving a greater for- 

 aging area ; by warming and dr^dng the soil in the spring ; and 

 by reducing the extremes of temperature and moisture, the 

 physical condition will be rendered best for giving up the 

 accumulated plant food. The increased water holding capacity 



