8 



SOIL. 



any real use : the fruit being both mealy and flavour- 

 less. 



This stock as well as the paradise are best raised 

 from layers, particularly the Dutch, few of the other 

 being raised in this country, in consequence of the 

 facility with which any quantity can be had from the 

 continent. The paradise stocks affect a moist, rather 

 than a dry soil. 



Of the Soil. — The successful culture of the apple 

 depends very much on the suitableness of the ground 

 they are planted in. The size and flavour of the 

 fruit, the general health and duration of trees, is 

 most commonly the result of good or bad soil. Cli- 

 mate and situation also affect both trees and fruit ; 

 but not in the degree in which the same are affected 

 by the qualities predominant in the land. Of all the 

 different descriptions of soil to be met with in these 

 kingdoms, that of a soft hazel loam, containing a 

 small portion of sand, seems to be the most conge- 

 nial to the apple generally. In such soil the tree is 

 seen to flourish longest, is most productive, and re- 

 mains freest from disease or attack of insects. A 

 great depth is not requisite ; eighteen or twenty 

 inches being quite enough, provided it be on a dry 

 subsoil of chalk or loose rock. If the bottom be wet, 

 the trees should be planted high, and every means 

 taken to drain the ground. A wet bottom of gravelly 

 clay should be avoided if possible : no kind of apple 

 thriving long if the. roots once enter into such a cold 

 substratum. 



Deep rich soils in sheltered situations are not the 



