276 STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



PKOFITS OF A PEACH ORCHARD. 



President Lay spoke of the wonderful advantages of this region for the pro- 

 duction of peaches, and urged organization of the growers as a means to 

 advance their interests, both as to growing and marketing. He stated that 

 several years ago he set out about four acres of peach trees. People laughed 

 and said he was making a place for boys to go "cooning." His crop of 1874 

 repaid the cost of planting; in 1875 no crop was borne, but no trees were lost 

 from the severe winter; in '70 he got $300 for the crop, besides having enough 

 for home use; in '77 he got $500; in '78, $800; in '79, $1,000, and the pur- 

 chaser did his own picking ; and this year he reserved some of the trees and 

 sold the fruit on the rest for $800. This was the gain from less than four 

 acres. In conclusion, he said, "I tell you, gentlemen, there's a mine of wealth 

 in every one of these hills." 



VARIETIES. 



Mr. H. (J. Buck would plant for a succession through the season, from the 

 Amsden to the Smock. He would plant the Amsden, Beatrice, Hale's 

 Early, George IV., Foster, Early Crawford, Barnard, Old Mixon, Late Craw- 

 ford, and Smock. 



Mr. La Fleur would plant, as most profitable in their season, the Amsden 

 and Alexander, between which he had discovered little difference, both being 

 good ; the Beatrice is too small ; the Early Louise is a little larger and good — 

 was his next choice to the Amsden, but would not set many; the Early Rivers 

 has a good color, fine flesh, and bears when very young; Hale's Early is good 

 if on proper ground — if set on clay or heavy ground it is likely to rot on the 

 trees even without the curculio's ravages; the large Early York has white 

 flesh, red cheeks, is hardy, grows well, and brings a good price, but if there 

 were a yellow peach ripening at the same time it would take the Hale's place; 

 the Mountain Rose comes next, a very handsome, red-cheeked, and rapid-grow- 

 ing peach; the Honest John, Yellow Rareripe, Barnard, and Early Crawford 

 ripen at about the same time, the Rareripe being a little the earliest ; the Early 

 Crawford heads the list of the middle season peaches, for which a heavy soil is 

 best, and it brings a good price even in competition with all the peaches from 

 the east and south ; the Foster is a little later than the Early Crawford and 

 looks much like it, but has a deep, dark red stripe; the Old Mixon has white 

 flesh, and is one of the oldest known varieties, aud always brings a high price 

 because of its fine quality ; the Jacques Rareripe is good and does best on light 

 soil, and the Barnard does better than the Early Crawford on light land ; 

 Stump-the-world is white with a slight flush ; the Susquehanna is of excellent 

 quality but a shy bearer ; the Late Crawford is one of the best peaches we have 

 for market, doing best on heavy soil and being a shy bearer when young, but 

 doing well when older ; Hill's Chili comes next but is liable to be affected by 

 dry weather, and so ripen earlier — is very hardy, does as well on sandy land as 

 any, needs thinning, and though it may not sell as well as the Late Crawford, 

 there is more money in it the first ten years; the Smock is as late as any 

 peach that will ripen here every year, is hardy in bud and wood, and brings as 

 nigh a price as any. He had found a seedling growing upon F. Granger's land, 

 in Monterey, which was larger and finer than the Late Crawford, one of the 

 best peaches he ever saw. He had budded from it. Budding from trees bear- 

 ing unusually large fruit of their kind caused new trees of the same charac- 

 teristic. Snow's Orange is an improvement, simply, on the Barnard, and 

 probably is a seedling from it. 



