. Cultivation of the apple in Canada with descriptions and lists of Apples. 6 roots of trees will at no time be standing in water, and it should be sufficiently penetrable to permit the roots to make an extended growth. A subsoil which is hard and impervious restricts the root development of a tree, with a subsequent effect on its life and vigour. Of course, a very open subsoil, not at all retentive of water, is the other extreme and is to be as equally avoided as the impervious. An ideal type is a rather gravelly loam. Such a subsoil is decidedly better than a hard-pan, a stiff ha


. Cultivation of the apple in Canada with descriptions and lists of Apples. 6 roots of trees will at no time be standing in water, and it should be sufficiently penetrable to permit the roots to make an extended growth. A subsoil which is hard and impervious restricts the root development of a tree, with a subsequent effect on its life and vigour. Of course, a very open subsoil, not at all retentive of water, is the other extreme and is to be as equally avoided as the impervious. An ideal type is a rather gravelly loam. Such a subsoil is decidedly better than a hard-pan, a stiff hard clay, or a loose sand. Good depth of subsoil is essential for best results; from six to eight feet is almost a necessity for successful orchard- ing. The use of a spade or soil auger will soon exhibit to the prospective. Fig. 2. Orchard grown under the grass-mulch system. The trees on the left have been mulched with one bale of straw per tree. This system is recommended especially where the orchard is in the condition shown in Fig. 1. (Photo, by F. H. Ballou. Courtesy of Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.) planter the type and depth of the underlying soil. Apples thrive on a great variety of surface soils from drift sand to heavy clay. In many of our best fruit sections both types are to be found. From the standpoint of ease of work- ing, a sand or loam (either clay loam or sandy loam) is to be desired. At the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, the orchard is located on the poorest of sand. This soil is easy to work at all seasons, but is necessarily poor in plant food, and has required considerable attention in this connection. By the judicious use of fertilizer and cover crop, however, it has been possible to main- tain average vigour and productiveness on a soil of little value for general farm purposes. The keeping quality of apples is materially affected by the type of soil. Fruit grown on the lighter sands does not keep as well as that grown on heavier soils, and in


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublisher, booksubjectapples