Rural School Leaflet 1363 



The ground about the trees should be plowed in early spring and 

 cultivated every week or ten days until late July or early August. At 

 this time a cover crop shovdd be sown, to remain on the ground during 

 the ensuing winter and to be plowed under in the spring. This covet 

 crop may be r\-c, vetch, or some of the clovers. The cover crop affords 

 one of the most inexpensive means that there is of furnishing fertilizer 

 to the trees, and in some cases it may furnish all the plant-food necessary 

 if the land is rich naturally. Oftentimes, however, commercial fertilizers 

 are needed in addition, chiefly phosphoric acid and potash. The amounts 

 to be applied can be determined only by actual experiment. 



The peach tree begins to bear fruit when three years old, the average 

 yield at that time being about one-third of a bushel. With good care 

 the yield will usually increase until the tree is ten years old. At this 

 time the production of each tree will be in the neighborhood of three 

 bushels. These figures will, of course, van*- ^^•ith the varieties and the 

 conditions under which the fruit is grow^n. The fruit-bearing habits 

 of the peach differ from those of other tree fruits in that all the fruit is 

 borne on wood of the previous season's growth. This is sometimes called 

 one-year wood. The upper and lower parts of the previous season's 

 growth usually contain single buds. These are leaf buds. In the central 

 part of the branch, however, the buds are generally in clusters of three. 

 The central buds of these clusters are always leaf buds, \vhile the outer 

 ones are fruit buds, each containing a single blossom. It is often the case 

 that only a small proportion of these buds develop sufficiently to bear 

 fruit. It is well that this is so, because if all the fniit buds that form each 

 year were to produce fmit the trees would be overloaded and considerable 

 time and money would have to be expended in thinning the fruit. Even 

 as it is, the growers of fancy peaches practice thinning the fruit each year. 



It will probably be necessarv' to spray the peach. Insects and dis- 

 eases will vary with the different sections and with the conditions 

 under which the fruit is grown. For information on these subjects, 

 a publication devoted to their treatment should be consulted. 



It is not possible to recommend varieties for planting with any assurance 

 that they are the best varieties for the purpose, without first knowing 

 the conditions under which they will be grown. Persons are likely to 

 feel that those fruits that are grown at a considerable distance and are 

 unknown in their own community, are superior to those found at home; 

 but the safer \\'ay is to plant those varieties that have proved suitable 

 for local conditions. 



The peach is one of the finest fruits and should be found in every home 

 garden where the tree will grow. It will not thrive without care, bi;t 

 it mH repay the caretaker for the time spent on it. 



