Ken Dicken has written a mini series if you will about growing apples.  Its a compilation of years of knowledge and hard work put forth by Ken himself.  He has tried and tested everything in this apple resource over a lifetime!  The book also has comments and notes in it from Dr Earl Seeley, a well know authority in the industry.

This series has the best information about apples and apple trees you will find anywhere.  It has bee devided into smaller chapters so you can buy just the section you are needing or you can purchase the entire book.

Module 1 covers an introduction to the series and site selection.  This includes soil and water tests.  Module is a complete volume of its own if you are just interested in finding the perfect location for your BackYard Orchard.