CHAPTER II 
SOIL—ROCKS—WATER—TIMBER 
Som.—In British Columbia pretty nearly all soils alike will 
grow fruit-trees. The superiority of the fruit of British 
Columbia is due very largely to a factor which counts 
for much more than soil—namely, the climate. Not that 
all soils are of equal value; far from it. Naturally, 
some are better adapted for producing good fruit than 
others. The best soil, and the soil which prevails over 
by far the greater part of the region, is a red or chocolate- 
coloured sandy loam, generally rather light in texture, 
fairly well supplied with mineral constituents, but lacking 
in nitrogen. It is soil that is easily worked, and conse- 
quently is inexpensive to manage and keep in proper con- 
dition. After a good crop of young red clover, or similar 
leguminous plant, has been ploughed in, this red loam 
acquires the proper texture, or degree of associated 
friability and compactness, that is best suited for orchard 
trees. (See further, in Chapter VIII., under section on 
Clover Crops.) The roots are able to work in it with great 
ease and rapidity, and it promotes the formation of the 
network of small and delicate fibrous roots and rootlets 
which have so much to do with the actual production of 
the fruit. 
Another variety of soil which gives excellent results is 
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