128 



THIRTY-FOURTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



SOIL SELECTION. 



On the other hand, certain success may be secured by selecting soils 

 which especially favor the crop to be grown. Prunes produce heavier 

 crops and larger fruit when grown on deep alluvial soils ranging from 

 deep sandy loams to silt or clay loams. Such soils more readily carry 

 moisture through the dry summer while the crop is growing. These 

 soils likewise hold irrigation water better, and are usually richer than 

 more porous or gravelly soils. Peaches prefer sandy soils of a light 

 color, possessed of good drainage and free from close hardpan. The 

 Muscat, or raisin grape, which has proven so successful in the San 

 Joaquin Valley, does best on a light brown or gray sandy loam. When 

 the soil changes into a light loose sand, adobe or red soil, this grape 

 fails to do its best. The Tokay grape, which depends almost entirely 

 upon its rich flame color for its success, shows great variation within 

 the belt knoAvn as the Tokay belt. These variations can be traced, as a 

 rule, to the changes in the soil. The best colored Tokay grapes usually 

 grow on a red or light red sandy loam or loam soils, most of which are 

 underlain by hardpan or heavy clay. When grown on light gray sandy 

 soils, or rich dark alluvial loams or silt loams, a large grape is produced, 

 l)ut its color is very inferior, being either too light or too dark and 

 unevenly colored. So well recognized are these soil effects, that some 

 types of soils are known as Tokay soils. 



It is the work of the Bureau of Soils to definitely identify these soils 

 in many areas in California, completely outlining them - upon maps, 

 which show the exact location of the various soil tj^pes encountered. 

 The characteristics of these soils, such as origin, topography, color, 

 texture, depth, fertility, etc., are then described, together with their 

 special crop adaptation and special methods of culture best adapted 

 to them. 



With this aid it becomes possible for those desiring to enter into the 

 field of fruit growing to select the soils and localities best suited to the 

 fruit they desire to grow, whether it be Tokay or ^Muscat grapes, ship- 

 ping or canning peaches, prunes or oranges. 



THE IDEAL SOIL. 



The ideal soil may be described as one which readily permits the 

 percolation of rain or irrigation water and, at the same time, has 

 capillary power to draw the moisture from its depths to the surface 

 for the sustenance of crops. Such a soil is deep, very uniform in 

 texture, with almost imperceptible demarkation between soil and sub- 

 soil. A fine sandy loam may be termed an ideal soil. 



While the soil just described may be best for general crop production, 

 variations from it often meet the conditions required by special fruit 

 crops. It happens in this manner that certain soils, not generally 

 ranked very high for general cropping, become very productive under 

 the culture of special fruit crops, such as the orange, grape, and olive. 



Deciduous orchard fruits are perhaps- the most exacting in their 

 demands for ideal soil conditions. While many of them show consider- 

 able range in soil adaptation, as a rule they are limited to the better 

 types of soils. Impervious subsoil and hardpan usually show their 

 injurious effects by the presence of die-back or rosettes at the end of 



