364 



Bulletin 74. 



orchards which I have seen this sumtaer produce only debts and 

 exasperation. 



But here comes a difficulty : it is easy to produce an overgrowth 

 upon strong lands. The trees grow to a great size during the 

 first few years, their tops are full of heavy leaves and the foliage 

 holds very late in the fall. These trees generally bear tardily and 



/. 



Michigan peach orchard eight years old, with vase-form trees. 



in some cases they are never very productive of fruit. They run 

 to wood. The winds tear them to pieces. The first trouble lies 

 in the land ; it is too strong for the peach. The second trouble 

 may be the too free use of barn manures or other nitrogenous fer- 

 tilizers, or too late cultivation in the fall. In 1889 I set several 

 varieties of peaches in the University gardens upon soil which 

 had been well manured in previous years, and the land has since 

 been used for garden vegetables which have been well and some- 

 times even excessively manured with stable manure. The trees 

 have now passed their sixth suaamer, but not one of them has 

 borne two dozen peaches. Yet they are models of thrift, and the 



