The Newtown bee., 1896-11-27

1nts which potash gave tleW; and be- . fore the old tree passed away, most Of . their fruit was almost as coIorlcss as if it i had grown cn the inside.
 Then the farmers moved their orchards back to the thid or fourth plateau, cr back on the adjoining hills with a soil of . clay. Here the potash weathered from the granite silicates renewed the color of the fruit, and this more especially oD the southern slopes of the hills. O1 these slopes the clay is generally yellow, witb very slight admixture of organic re- mains, because the prevailing winds fer . ages swept the forest leaves around on tc 1 the northern slopes, leavirg very thin . soil, afrcn not enough to cover he hedge.. On the northern slopes the clay is gener- ally red with much more Of dccaycd veg etation and deeper; and the fruit g-owr on this .i5e v,a~ not Of A flea fl tvor Q, so lo, 2 keeping as that gathered on the south -jde Olthts -ide tha =t-atum Of . sol wa, So shallow that the loy:. }. ,o burrow in the creyIccs cf the Icdges. The impossibility of forming tap-oots forced the trees to a cores >ponding adaptation of the tcps, which were low sud wide, sometimes nearly, if not quite, 5O per cent greater in diameter than in altitude.
 From these facts. thus cursoriIy stated. we may derive some valusbIe lessons. The degeneracy of modern fruit grown in long settled communities, irs tendency to rot, it's lack of .vor, arise not so much from the greater prevalence of in- sects, cften bcwailed, ae from the i'm poveri hmcnt of the soil. !. rots more quickly than i. did in pioneer times be- cause it is made of easily rotting ma- terial-carbon, nitrogen, especially or ganic nitrogen, stable manure, etc,
 worn and characterless soil. The woody structure (csrboD), the pulp and juice ! (aitrogen) are here, but the iron <terric oxi1e) of the structure, the potash and lime to color and flavor it, and the phos- phoric acid to give itstrength and atami- na of seed, are Iackng-a gathered and cropped away. We might mention the
 Massachusetts Experiment Station an- alyses, which show, for instance, that the crop of wild grapes was enriched by fertilizers from 50 93 per cent of potash up to @ 6, and in Concord grapes from II g up to G4.55. But this is a mere handling of the skeleton without the soul, the flavor and the keeping qualities, which chemistry is too gross to compass. !
 The best fruit culture does not require deep soil but rather the reverse. A deep soil gives long tap root, gives an chorage and moisture, but that mois- ture is drawn up from the depths of the ground, cold, sour and unsuuned Rqth- CT let us have a shallow roo5age, gather ing its nourishment along near the sur face, full of the richness and sweetness of the sun, and giving these to the fruit. ]
 In the fierce extremes of our Ameri- i can climate we do not want Ieggy tree, a long, naked trunk to be bark burnt by the sun, sap-frozen by the cold, and dried by the Ieg-cutting b!izzord We want low, broad spreading top to keep the bark of the trunk loose and mellow. l have kept the stems of young trees which were too long, bound with light ! wrapping all summer, making them soft, 1. tender and smooth as melon, and the l trees grew like weeds.
 We do not want the head of the tree riddIed-'opened up to let in the air and sunlight" Rather let it grow dense like a cabbage-as nearly as may be-to pro, tect itself from the elements, to force the fruit out from the middle and com pei it to grow on the surface, where it will get gloss and absorb the sweet ness of the sun.
 There are few soils which do not, for the growing of fruit, need regular appli- catio IS of mineral fertilizers, especially potash, to give the fruit character and richness. These should be applied in the fall; then they become absorbed and assimilated by the roots during the win. ter and impart their first impulse to the tree at blooming, which is the supreme effort of the yea, ss conception f with an animal. Fertilizers given in the sum- mer are used by the tree for the business presently in hand, the making of foliage and wood; applied in the fall, they will be employed to make bloom and fruit IS Powers in the Country Gentleman.
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