Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1897-07-21


lected will naturally depend on
the crop TO be grown For the
| home garden almost amy of the soils of
the state can be made to answer very
good purpose. An essential require
ment for both fruits and vegetables Is
good drainage either natural or arti-
neial This is especially necessary
/ where earliness Is a question of I'M
portance, for wet sodden soils are al
ways cold and backward in the spring.
soils with a certain amount of sand are
easier to cultivate, and will be more
suitable for most vegetables than heavy
clay soils They can he planted ear
lier IN the spring and will mature crops
| earlier. Most fruits, on the other hand,
Will, in this latitude thrive better and
be treer from disease on rather stin
clay land than on very sandy soils. Per-
maps the most notable exception to this
! statement is the case of the Oriental
/ pears tie Conte. Keffer, etc.), which
seem especially adapted to the moist
! sandy soils of the coast region. The
/ ldeal truck soil is a moist but not wet,
black sandy loam containing abundant
vegetable matter: and preferably rest
ing on a not too imperyious red clay
subsol. 1t should be nearly level, or
with a gentle southern exposure. OF
\ course the greater the natural fertility
the better, but after all this is not a
/ vital question, for there are no soils so
4 rich that they will stand continuous
trucking without frequent and heavy
/ applications of fertilizing material The
mechanical condition, and moisture
holding capacity of the soil is really of
! greater Importance to the truck farm
er, than its chemical composition; and
/ these must be maintained by continu-
ally adding to It's supply Of vegetable
matter, either by applications of sta
bic manure, or by plowing under green
| crops. Only comparatively level lands
/ should be planted to truck crops. On
steep broken hillsdes too much fertil-
ity is lost by washing and there is too
much extra labor in cultivation. All
stumps, rocks or other Instructions
should be carefully removed in order
to admit the use Of modern cultivating
machinery. Very broken hillsides are
sometimes utilized by planting them to
fruit trees and especially to grape
vines. Fine fruit can be grown in such
locations, and in some cases it may be
the best way OF using such lands. 1t
IL, however, usually unwise to plant
commercial orchards on land so rolling
as to prevent rowing the trees and cul-
tiyating both ways, on account of the
added labor in cultivating and harvest
ing where the rows have to circle the
hillsides. Only high lying lands should
be selected for orchards, especially OF
the stone fruits, not only on account of
the better drainage, but because Of the
greater freedom from spring frost. and
a less liability to loss from rot. High
land fruit Is finer colored and more at
tractive than that grown on low lands.
A flat-topped hill with the land slop-
ing away in all directions Is an ideal
location for an orchard, especially if
there is a good red clay subsoil The
character of the top soil is not so i'm
portant. 1t may be a little sandy in
which case the fruit will be few days
earlier; but stiff red clay throughout.
with only small amount of vegetable
matter, will give fruit of the highest
flavor, best color and best shipping
quality. As stated before these re-
marks do not apply to the Oriental
pears and only partially to apples
Parts of the mountain country of North
/, Alabama are admirably adapted to ap-
pies, but in the central and southern
parts of the state they are a little out
OF their latitude, and the trees are like.
ly to be short lived in dry and exposed
locations. They Will be longer lived
aG3 more fruitful in lower and moistel
lands, though in such locations the
fruit is always duller in color and more
liable to rot.-F. S. Earle, Ala. Exp
Station.