Dime yam an 
Probably the best all-round fruit soils are deep sandy loams, light loams, 
or loams of medium texture; heavy or clay loams are not, as a rule, suitable. 
Such soils may be of any colour except pale-yellow or white, which are usually 
sour and very poor; but grey, reddish, light-brown chocolate, or blackish (if 
not swampy) soils are all good if deep enough, and if they possess porous sub- 
soils that will not retain stagnant water. Such soils are usually alluvial, or 
formed by the disintegration of the rocks of one or other of the Sandstone 
Formations. They are easy to work—retain moisture well when cultivated— 
trees root wellin them ; and though in many cases they are not of great natural 
fertility, still when of good depths there is such a large area for the roots to 
derive their plant food from, that they are not easily exhausted, even when the 
trees, or rather the roots of the trees, occupy the whole of the ground. 
‘ Another point in favour of such soils is the readiness with which they respond 
to the application of manures, should the trees be showing the want of plant 
food. Soils of this character are to be met with in most parts of the colony— 
sometimes in large areas, and sometimes in patches extending in area froma 
narrow strip along the banks of creeks to small patches of afew acres in ‘ 
extent, and to, in some cases, large areas containing many square miles of 
country. Land of this character is sometimes covered with scrub and some- 
times with forest, usually more or less heavy in the coastal districts; but in. 
the interior it is usually pine, belar, or light box—country usually easy to clear. 
The timber growing on the land is, as a general rule, a very good indication of 
the suitability of the soil for fruit culture, and should be carefully noted when _ 
selecting the site for an orchard. Land covered with tea-tree, honeysuckle, 
bloodwood, mahogany, stringy-bark, or with many stunted flowering shrubs of 
various kinds is, as a rule, a bad fruit soil, as, though often of ‘a sandy loamy 
nature, it is usually poor, sour, and badly drained, often spuey, with yellowish 
or whitish clayey subsoil. 
Good medium light or sandy loams form the best of soils for the 
following fruits:—Citrus of all kinds, peaches, Japanese plums, persimmons, 
figs, grapes, many kinds of olives, apples, almonds, custard apples, mangoes, 
pineapples, walnuts, and chestnuts. Fruits such as pears, apricots, cherries, 
plums, or prunes will grow well in such soils; but will produce fruit of finer 
texture and superior fl 
many parts of the colony; and such ar 
extremes of the Queensland clims 
without injury, and, again, the 
their power to retain moisture when ke 
Trees planted in such soils root deeply, and are not greatly affected by the 
e the best fruit soils for standing the 
tte, as they will stand any quantity of rain 
drying out of the purely surface soil, as would be the case were the soil at 
all shallow. Again, the fact of fruit trees rooting deeply in such soils allows 
of thorough cultivation to a depth of six inches or more without any fear of 
injuring the roots, and the deeper and inore thorough the cultivation, the longer 
the soil will retain moisture during a dry spell. Where such soils are rich in 
decayed leaf mould or other organic matter, bananas do well, if the district has 
a heavy rainfall and is free from frost; but, unless heavily manured, bananas 
will rapidly impoverish them, and they will, therefore, only stand a few years’ 
cropping. In addition to sandy or light loams, medium loams of voleanic 
origin, especially if rich in organic matter, inake the best of fruit soils. Such 
soils are usually covered with scrub, and are very fertile—fruit trees of 
all kinds making very heavy growth. Thorough sub-drainage is essential to 
such soils, and where this exists there ig probably no better soil for bananas, 
pineapples, or any tropical or sub-tropical fruit, excepting the lemon, which 
grows far too rank and coarse in such soils, and the orange even is apt to be 
coarse till the trees attain some age. Similar soils, when occurring in colder 
and drier districts, are adapted for the growth of pears, olives, plums, prunes, 
apricots, and cherries in the coldest parts, and grapes for table use or for 
raisin-making, but not so good for wine, though, when such soils are rich in 
lime, they will probably produce a good brandy. 
. ' 
avour when grown in richer and heavier soils. a 
a] . } : . . . seh Rog 
Sandy loamy soils of depths varying from-10 to 80 feet are met with in 
y will resist long periods of drought, owing to 
pt ina thorough state of cultivation. — 
