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Deep trenching, wherever the subsoil is of a heavy nature, or 
top-dressing with clay, swamp or river mud, or farmyard manure 
will considerably alter and improve the texture of such soils. So 
also will green manuring or the ploughing in of some green crop, 
preferably a leguminous crop which is a cheap nitrogen gatherer. 
A deep gravelly loam constitutes a better orchard soil, and the 
hardier fruits will do well on it provided the climate suits. 
Strong loams are about the best all-round orchard soils. The 
trees grown on them do not, as a rule, bear quite so early as on 
more sandy loams, as the growth of wood is more vigorous and 
fruit-buds are not so soon formed and matured, but they are more 
vigorous and hence less liable to the attacks of pests, and they live 
and bear longer. Apples, pears, gooseberries, raspberries, straw- 
berries, and all kinds of fruit will do well on. such soils, which, 
besides being richer in the constituents of plant food, retain 
moisture better than does a light sandy loam, which does not happen 
to rest on a stronger subsoil. 
Heavy loams, with a large admixture of clay, make very good 
fruit soils if well drained, either naturally of artificially. Apple, 
pear, plum, apricot, cherry, and quince will thrive on such 
soils, and withstand the attacks of fruit pests with better result. 
On the heavier soils, pear and plum will do best of all, provided 
the climate suits the pear, which, in this respect, is more particular 
than the plum. Such soils are not so suitable for vines; in wet 
weather they are difficult to cultivate. 
Heavy clay, unless deeply drained and limed, should better be 
left alone by the fruit-growers. 
The site of the vineyard or orchard having been selected, it 
remains to clear it, if it has not yet been previously put under 
cultivation, and to prepare the soil for the plough. Autumn is the 
best time for ploughing, when the rain has softened the earth. 
Hand trenching is always a very costly operation, and, except when 
the patch to be planted is very small, is not practicable. 
The vine, however, like all other fruit trees that oceupy the ground 
for a number of years, does best in a thoroughly stirred soil. The 
character of the soil regulates, to a great extent, the depth of the 
ploughing—a moderate depth is sufficient in rich loose loams, while 
conversely, in poorer soils or heavy clays, the plough should be run 
deeper. Where the ground is still raw and sour, with a cold sub- 
soil close to the surface, it is advisable to have a leading plough 
turning a moderately deep furrow, followed by another plough with 
the mould board removed and stirring the ground deeper without 
bringing it to the surface. 
It is reckoned that one inch of rainfall, covering one acre of 
ground, is equivalent to 100 tons of water per acre; similarly, taking 
the density of the soil as two, as compared with water, we get for 
