60 Practical Orcharding On Rough Lands. 



rough land, where we may have choice of the 

 various slopes, for it is hard to find any two of 

 them that will be exactly alike when we con- 

 sider them from the following viewpoints. 



First, we should consider the strength of the 

 soil, for after all that is the foundation upon 

 which we must build. As a rule we find certain 

 hillsides in some localities or parts of the 

 country much more fertile than the opposite 

 sides of the same hill or mountain. We have 

 in mind timbered sections. This can generally 

 be accounted for by the direction from which 

 the prevailing winds have blown. For example 

 in our own experience, we have found the 

 Northern and Northeastern slopes much richer 

 than either the Western or Southern, as the pre- 

 vailing winds in the section in which these 

 plantings were made are from the West and 

 Southwest, so that for years and years the leaves 

 had been blown over to the North sides of the 

 hills. By their decay they have made that side 

 the richest; while the Southern and Western 

 sides of the same hill have been robbed (by 

 the wind) of their just share of fertility by this 

 constant loss of leaves. 



Next let us consider the matter of moisture 

 holding capacity of the two soils, for upon the 

 moisture "content of the soil largely depends its 

 power of production. We all recognize the 



