Rural School Leaflet 1361 



the winter. The growth of the sycamore is very rapid, and a tree may 

 live to be six hundred years old. The sycamore is distributed from 

 Maine and Ontario south to Florida, west to Minnesota, Nebraska, and 

 Texas. In New York State it is found along the streams and prefers 

 moist, fertile soils. The wood is used for interior finishing and in the 

 manufacture of furniture, crates, tobacco boxes, and charcoal. 



WITCH-HAZEL 



The witch-hazel is a small tree or shrub sometimes reaching a height 

 of twent\'-five feet, but usually smaller, with a short trunk, bearing numer- 

 ous spreading, crooked branches, which form a broad open head. It is 

 a tree of ver\^ wide distribution, and in all probability may be found 

 in every county in New York State. In the fall it may easily be dis- 

 tinguished since it blossoms at this time, when most of the trees have 

 shed their leaves and are preparing for winter. The witch-hazel is of no 

 commercial importance, although the bark is used for medicinal purposes. 

 The fruit ripens in October and November at the sam.e time that the 

 blossoms appear. 



TWO FRUIT TREES FOR STUDY IN 1915-1916 

 H. B. Knapp 



THE PEACH 



The apple has been called the king of fruits, and justly so because 

 of its popularity and widespread use. If the apple deserves this title, 

 then the peach is just as surely the queen of fruits, possessing the qualities 

 of beauty, tenderness, and luscious flavor to a degree that no other 

 of the northern fruits can boast. It is an old. old fruit, originating either 

 in Persia or, more probably, farther eastward. The species name Pcr- 

 sica, to which this fruit belongs, is derived from Persia, where it was 

 long thought that the peach was first grown. There are several groups 

 of peaches now grown in this countr\^ just as there are several groups of 

 cherries. These groups differ in the size, the shape, and the flavor of the 

 fruit and in the manner of growth of the tree. Only two of these groups 

 are of commercial importance in New York State: the North China group, 

 to which the Elberta belongs, and the Persian group, of which the Craw- 

 ford is an example. 



The peach is the tenderest of all the commercial fruits. It can be 

 grown with the greatest success only in the more favored sections of the 

 State, namely, those regions in which the climate is tempered by nearness 

 to large bodies of water. For example, the Ontario Lake region of New 



York State is recognized as one of the foremost peach-growing sections' 



86 ■■r: 



