SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 69 
cnce seems due solely to the greater retentiveness of the one, the 
extra moisture thereby retained so lowering the specific heat of the 
subsoil as materially to defer the ripening of fruit or other products. 
If there be excessive humidity just before picking time, however, 
this additional moisture may cause the fruit to go down more quickly 
than that from subsoils less retentive of moisture. 
Judging from the experience of a very large number of growers in 
Connecticut and in other States, combined with field observations, 
it seems evident that the Champion peach is especially sensitive to 
any condition of subsoil which hinders the ready movement of mois- 
ture within a probable depth of as much as 4 feet from the surface. 
This would include not only those conditions which tend toward 
hardpan, but also the subsoils whose clay and silt content is sufficient 
to render them compact or close, particularly the clays and the clay 
loams. 
TVhile the surface soil should not be heavy enough to form clods, 
its character is of much less importance than that of the subsoil. 
Notwithstanding the fact that a fairly strong soil is desirable for 
the best tree growth and size of fruit, it is very easy so to overdo 
these tendencies that the fruit neither matures well nor ships well. 
If the picking season happens to be wet the rotting tendency of 
Champion is increased and such a season is almost fatal to this 
variety when grown on rich strong ground. So it seems that 
Champion is best planted on soils of only medium productivity, but 
they should be sufficiently loamy and deep for the variety to be held 
well within control. There should be not too much humus, yet just 
enough. The soil and subsoil should be held so closely in hand that 
a little fertilization will increase the size of the fruit if necessary, 
and conversely that the fruit may be held in check if the shipping 
quality is not satisfactory. The best results, averaging seasons, have 
come from light porous soils such as medium to heavy friable sandy 
loams underlain by material not heavier than a friable loam, and 
preferably by a heavy sandy loam. Too great porosity of the entire 
soil section may entail, however, more risk from droughty periods 
than would appear from rot on a soil section a little heavier, hence 
soils may be too sandy and loose even for the Champion. 
Carman and Mountain Rose are not quite so dependent as the 
Champion on soils that drain out hastily, and while they succeed best 
on soils of a little greater moisture-holding capacity than the Cham- 
pion, they nevertheless give the best results on deep and well-drained 
soils. They do very well indeed on the Wethersfield loam which 
seems for them a typical soil condition. They are also grown with 
success on heavy sandy loams and on the light silty loams of the 
"Wethersfield series and the Middlefield series where the subsoil is 
