220 3Iississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



Witliin this, the hirgest, the richest, the grandest valley in the world, the ter- 

 ritorial center as well as the center of population of the United States are 

 found. Then why should we in this brief paper pass bej'ond its bounds ? 

 But while we claim it as our home and the home of our Society, we can 

 hardly claim it to be the true home of the peach. While it succeeds in some 

 favored sections of this great valley pretty well, we must candidly admit that 

 ours is not the best peach producing part of the world. 



The Mississippi valley is more exposed to meteorological extremes and 

 disturbances that any other part of this continent. The torrid heat of our 

 summers and the arctic " blizzards" of our winters embrace a range of tem- 

 perature from about 120° in the shade to — 40° zero. We are exposed to 

 droughts and floods of great extremes. Tlien, from times when everj^ living 

 creature ga.sps for a breath of fresh air to the cyclone, that in its fury knows 

 no bounds, tearing the very rocks from their everlasting resting places, then 

 scooping up the mighty oaks, hurling them round and round with the ap- 

 parent ease that a school boy spins his top. What is it that will hold out 

 against these mighty forces? The trees can not long endure the compound 

 forces of "Old Sol,'" nor can the fruit germs resist the intense cold of — 40°, 

 — 20°, or even — 10° under certain conditions Protracted droughts are detri- 

 mental to the peach interest. No matter how you cultivate, the fruit wilts and 

 dries as if pas-^cd through an evaporator. On the other hand, too much mois- 

 ture is equally as latal to the peach crop as it is to have too little. A season of 

 rainstorms at the time of blooming washes away the pollen, which is equiv- 

 alent to destroying the crop. Protracted rainy weather at the period of ri- 

 pening often saves the trouble of gathering, the expense of shipping and 

 compiii^sions. 



Wo that attempt to grow peaches have often counted our "chicks" too 

 soon. We have often seen our fruit pass all of the tight squeezes and our 

 highest htjpes almost realized, when the beautiful blush beginning to show 

 itself (it seemed to almost riv.il that upon the cheek of a lovely young girl 

 just bursting into womanhood), when, alas! as the fond hopes of many a proud 

 mother has been blighted by some cruel ill to which all flesh is heir, the rich 

 blood no longer, courses her veins, the glow is no longer seen to mount her 

 brow, but fades away, each day less and less is seen, until the victim drops 

 into an untimely grave. So it is with our little pets, they fade and drop to 

 the ground, thus blighting our highest hopes. 



In the obituary we read, in the very noonday of life, that vile destroyer 

 (rot) lay a ruthless hand on our little beauties, and stayed not his mighty 

 grip until the last one had yielded to the malady. What peach grower has 

 not been made to feel almost sick, when after a violent storm of wind or 

 elect he sees his trees all mangled and torn, his finest specimens of fruit 

 strewn here and there over the ground, a toUil loss? There is another great 

 ransp of failure in tho poach interests, brought about by a ru.sh after extra 

 early varieties. Hale's Early was the Jirst to advance the season earlier tlian 

 Burly Tillotfion. Hale, from the beginning, developed a weak point in its pre- 



