Fruits and Culture. 391 



COMMERCIAL VALUE OF PEACHES. 



(By Prof. R. H. Price, Texas Agricultural College.) 



At present it seems to me that the peach is the most important fruit 

 grown in Texas when considered from a commercial standpoint. To get 

 a clear idea of the commercial value of the peach, we must consider the 

 cost of growing and marketing. I will begin with the cost of setting the 

 orchard. Good trees can be purchased at five cents apiece, and when set 

 20 feet apart each way, it will take 108 trees to the acre. These 108 trees 

 will cost $5.40 to start with. It will cost about $2 to plow the land and 

 put it in shape for setting. To set them out, it will cost about 2^ cents 

 per tree. This makes the acre cost $10.20, set to peach trees ready for 

 growing the orchards. If good varieties are used, the orchard will bear 

 a fair crop the third year. The cost of cultivating and pruning this acre 

 each year will be about $5. The cost of the acre, then, will be about 

 $15.10 until the first crop comes in. However, such crops as potatoes, 

 cantaloupes and even cotton are grown on the soil while the trees aiC 

 young, and frequently fully pay for the cost of cultivating. These crops 

 should not be grown on the soil unless it is fairly rich, since they check 

 the growing trees, especially so if a drouth should come on late in sum- 

 mer. No crops should be grown close to the trees, as they take too much 

 moisture away from the young trees and do not leave enough room for 

 good cultivation. I have seen many young orchards ruined by growing 

 crops in them and not giving good cultivation. 



In canning our Mamie Ross peaches we found that one bushel of 

 this fruit filled 22 of three-pound cans, which at 16^ cents per can 

 amounted to $3.68 per bushel. From this amount should be deducted, of 

 course, the cost of growing the peaches and the cost of canning, which 

 was $2.20. This leaves a net profit of $1.48 per bushel for the fruit, be- 

 side the peach stones that are used for planting, and the peach paring 

 that makes a most excellent jelly. I am informed that in the peach sec- 

 tions of East Texas the growers frequently sell the fruit on the trees at 

 40 cents per bushel. They average about $100 net profit on an acre of 

 peaches. While I consider the commercial value of peaches quite satis- 

 factory, it must be understood that it requires skilled labor to handle the 

 crop all along from the setting of the orchard to marketing the crop. 

 There are times when some spraying for insects and diseases is necessary, 

 sometimes fertilizers should be used, careful pruning should be done to 

 produce the finest product, and the successful grower will be satisfied 

 with nothing short of this. — Orange Judd Farmer. 



