SOILS

The only sure way of determining the value of a soil for a particular fruit is by field-trial, because so many factors enter into the makeup of a good fruit soil that it is easy to make mistakes, and yet the best fruit soils have many evident points in common. There is hardly any soil but which under favorable conditions will be found adapted to some class of fruits. For instance, the pear prefers a rather heavy clay soil; the peach and cherry quite open and porous soils. The strawberry and blackberry will often do well on soil too sandy for other fruits although either one suffers from drought on a heavy soil. The currant and gooseberry prefer an open clay loam but will adapt themselves to almost any location. Then there are locations, such as the lands adapted to the Yellow Newtown or Albemarle Pippin apple in Virginia, so wondrously fitted to special fruits that it seems impossible to raise these in perfection elsewhere.

In the case of apples and many other tree fruits the condition of the subsoil is generally of more importance than the surface soil, although the condition of the latter must not be overlooked. It is desirable to have a surface soil that can be cultivated easily and will not bake hard after rains. Soil that is extremely rich in plant food is usually undesirable for apples, pears and peaches, especially if too rich in nitrogen. On such land the trees generally grow large and frequently do not bear until quite mature. The unripened buds and wood, common under such conditions, kill back in winter and the vigorous growth of early summer seems to be predisposed to fire blight or similar diseases.

Loess loam is the name given to an open clay soil which is made up largely of clay and small shells. On such land we generally find in the North a vigorous growth of maple, hackberry and white oak. It is perhaps the best kind of an all around fruit soil and any of our fruits will do well in it.

A limestone soil, where the roots can reach the underlying lime rock or soil and which has much lime in its makeup, is especially favorable for all our fruits and comes next to or may equal in value tlie loess loams. In parts of Florida the coral rock and the old shells in the sand help to make good fruit soil.

Heavy clay loam may be better adapted to agriculture than to fruit raising, but if such soil is thoroughly underdrained and given a proper rotation of cover crops, manure and general cultivation, it will often be found adapted to a goodly number of fruits and especially to apples, pears, currants, gooseberries and the sweet cherries. Such a soil requires a very careful management in order to get the best results from it.

Sandy loam underlaid with a good, open clay subsoil is almost ideal for any of the small fruits and grapes. It is the easiest kind of soil to handle and can be cultivated shortly after a rain without becoming lumpy or sticking to the tools, and it easily forms a dust blanket. Implements scour in it very readily, which is no small convenience. Altogether, it is the most pleasant kind of soil to cultivate and well adapted to a long list of fruit plants.

Sandy soil dries out so quickly that crops on it suffer from drought. This is especially true where the soil particles are coarse. It gives quick returns from manure applied to it but does not hold soluble manures. In general it is not adapted to any of the fruit crops unless it can be irrigated, or is located where the water table is within the reach of the roots. Under such conditions this soil may, with proper management, give good results with strawberries, blackcap raspberries, plums, sour cherries and peaches, and with many of the subtropical fruits.

Mucky soil is not well adapted to fruits of any kind but some kinds of strawberries and blackberries will occasionally yield enormously on such land where it is well drained. When muck is applied to sandy or clay laud, it is often beneficial.

Flat, black prairie soil is seldom sufficiently adapted to any kind of fruit to become the foundation of an important fruit industry, although many kinds of fruits may do well enough on it to make them desirable for planting in the home garden.

Clay soil, underlaid with gravel at a depth of from two to four feet, may be used for sour cherries, peaches and plums, but crops on it are liable to suffer from dought and such lands should generally be avoided for fruits. It dries out easily and yet the surface soil, being of clay, becomes lumpy unless carefully handled. It has most of the disadvantages of both a stiff clay and sandy soil.