SOIL PROFILE AXD ROOT PEXETRATIOX BY APPLE TREES 



19 



Figure 6 shows the root development of a Baldwin apple tree 9 47 

 years old, with a trunk circumference of 72 inches, grown on Granby 

 loam. Roots near the surface are very abundant and are fairly so to 

 a depth of 5 feet. More than one half of these roots, however, both 

 large and small, are dead. Maximum penetration was to a depth 

 of about 5 feet, and the dead and live roots seem to be rather uni- 

 formly distributed. 



The condition of the roots of this tree is fairly representative of 

 that found wherever trees in this district have been planted on these 

 dark-colored poorly drained soils. In many places, however, where 





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© ROOTS MORE THAN ONE INCH in DIAMETER •■ SMALLER ROOTS AND ROOTLETS 



6 BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH IN DIAMETER ® LARGE OEAD ROOTS 



X SMALLER OEAD ROOTLETS 



Figure 6.— Root development of a Baldwin apple tree 47 years old on Granby loam, a poorly drained soil 

 of group 3: A. very dark grayish-brown silt loam; B, light-gray almost white fine sandy loam; C, rust- 

 brown and gray mottled clay loam; and D, reddish-brown thinly stratified fine sandy loam. 



the subsoil is almost continuously saturated, but few roots extend to 

 a depth of more than 30 inches. 



A considerable part of the soils of the second group has developed 

 from ice-laid material or till, a portion of which has been reworked 

 and somewhat stratified by water. Figures 7 and 8 show the depth 

 of rooting in soils of this kind. 



In figure 7 is shown the root development of a Baldwin tree 50 

 years old, with a trunk girth of 59 inches, planted on Hilton gravelly 

 loam. The orchard has received good care, and production has been 

 moderate but uncertain. 



' In these studies of root penetration Baldwin apple trees have been used to a greater extent than other 

 varieties because they make up the larger part of the older orchards. An examination of other varieties, 

 however, shows approximately the same depth of penetration in corresponding soils. 



