8 CIRCULAR 9 5, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Trees planted on, soils having deep, open, well- drained subsoils have 

 larger and better-developed trunks, broader limb spread, and a much 

 better general appearance than do trees planted on soils with tight 

 subsoils. This is partly the result of having better surface soil which 

 usually accompanies a well-drained subsoil. Variations in size of 

 trees may in some places be due to differences in varieties, but where 

 the same variety is grown on different soils the influence of the sub- 

 soil is noticeable. 



Variations can best be illustrated by concrete examples. Near 

 Sweetwater, in Newton County, Mo., a commercial orchard planted 24 

 years ago has not received good care. The main part of the orchard 

 occupies the smooth top of a ridge. The soil is Lebanon, is shallow, 

 and has a highly developed hardpan. Here the stand is poor, and 

 the trees are small and stunted, with trunks averaging only 6 inches 

 in diameter. On a slight slope in one part of the orchard the soil is a 

 poor grade of Baxter gravelly loam. Here the stand of trees is 

 better, the limb spread is broader, and the trunks average about 10 

 inches in diameter. Across the road on a better grade of Baxter 

 gravelly loam in a fairly well cared for domestic orchard two years 

 younger the stand is almost perfect and the trunks average about 12 

 inches in diameter. 



South of Fair view in Newton, County, Mo., a small commercial 

 orchard 20 years old is partly on Gerald silt loam and partly on a 

 poor grade of Baxter soil. In the entire orchard the trees are of the 

 same variety and have received the same care. Trees on the Gerald 

 soil have a small limb spread and average only 7 inches in diameter, 

 whereas those on the Baxter soil have a much wider limb spread, 

 average 10 inches in diameter, and bloom earlier. 



On a small flat prairie northwest of Mount Vernon in Lawrence 

 County, Mo., where the clay layer of the Gerald soil is very tight and 

 impervious, a 20-acre apple orchard was planted 22 years ago and has 

 received fair attention. The trees average only about 7 inches in 

 diameter and have a small limb spread. (PL 3, B.) 



Twenty-one years ago a commercial orchard was planted on New- 

 tonia soil near Marionville, Lawrence County, Mo., and has received 

 good care. It now has an almost perfect stand, and the trees have 

 broad limb spread and trunks which average about 13 inches in 

 diameter. (PL 4, A.) 



Near Waddell in Newton County, Mo., a small commercial orchard 

 was planted about 24 years ago on a post-oak flat with highly 

 developed hardpan. Although the trees have received fair attention, 

 the percentage stand is very low. The trees are small, with trunks 

 that average only 6 or 8 inches in diameter. (PL 4, B.) The same 

 year a commercial orchard was planted on very gravelly Baxter soil 

 south of Aurora, Lawrence County, Mo., and received very good care. 

 The percentage stand is high, the limb spread broad, and the trunks 

 have an average diameter of about 13 inches. (PL 4, C.) 



Examples of this kind showing the striking contrasts between 

 orchards planted on soils with tight subsoils and with open subsoils 

 are to be found throughout the area. 



In these studies no attempt was made to collect data on yields or 

 quality of fruit. The yield, however, is certainly much larger where 

 the trees have been planted on the better soils. The general opinion 



