127 



its best, and at least has iiotliino- to fear from such as the Ben 

 Davis group. 



If the tendency of the York to be coarse in texture could be 

 in some degree overcome an important advance would be made. As 

 grown in some parts of central Pennsylvania where the climate is 

 a little colder than in the southern part of the state its texture is 

 much finer, and in following this variety to its northern limits 

 where superseded by the New York varieties, the flesh is much 

 closer, more solid and compact than with you, but the apple is not 

 so large. There are several good sorts moreover, to take its place 

 there and so it is not planted to any great extent. You cannot 

 bring that climate here, but you can select those subsoils which have 

 such water holdino- capacity that their temperature will make up 

 in part for those climatic conditions, and thus be of material assist- 

 ance in growing a finer textured York apple. 



Dr. A'oorhees in an address to the New Jersey Horticultural 

 Society last year (see page 153 of New Jersey Horticultural So- 

 ciety, 1909) said he thought color to be largely dependent on 

 climate and sunshine, but to some extent the presence of iron might 

 assist. In heartv accord with this it seems to me that attention has 

 not been cahed to one of the most important factors, unless Dr. 

 A'oorhees meant to include it under the general heading "climate," 

 and that hardlv seems probable. There are certainly two condi- 

 tions of climate in which everv tree finds itself trying to grow, viz., 

 the one above the surface of the ground and the other below. The 

 former is much easier to observe than the latter, and to it much 

 thought and studv have been given. But soils vary greatly in their 

 capacity to hold water, and this variation depends largelv upon the 

 texture of the soil, /. c, upon the size of the soil particles. 



But the structure of the soil also plays an important part in 

 determining in many cases the moisture conditions, though that is 

 not necessarily its most noticeable effect on tree growth. Soil tem- 

 peratures depend largely on the water-holding capacity of the soil. 

 The soil particles warm up in the spring much more readily than 

 the water contained in the soil. So does the humus, but the rela- 

 tively small percentage of it in any good fruit soil makes it a factor 

 of lessor importance as far as its temperature is concerned. Conse- 

 c{uently a soil that holds the most water is the last in the spring to 

 become warm enough for the plantino- of crops. Hence we com- 

 monly call a sand a light soil because it is ready to work early in 

 the season, whereas clay is considered a heavy soil because it retains 

 moisture well and cannot be worked until later. As a matter of 

 fact, the opposite is true so far as the weights are concerned, a 

 given volume of sand weighing more than, an equal volume of clay. 



If, then, subsoils well-drained from free water be selected 

 within the York region that carry a maximum of capillary water 

 their temperatures will be sensibly lower, especially during the 

 mid-summer months, than those of lighter textured subsoils that 

 carry less capillary water. In this way slight check to raoidity of 

 growth may be effected and thus give to the fruit a somewhat finer 

 texture. 



