424 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



severe winters or late spring frosts. In districts where the ther- 

 mometer frequently falls lower than 15 degrees below zero the crop 

 will prove very uncertain. It is best to select a climate not given to 

 extremes of any sort, and one which has a considerable rainfall, fairly 

 well distributed throughout the year; for this reason the foothills 

 of mountain ranges and high, narrow valleys, are desirable for 

 reasons that have been previously stated. Some fields on a farm 

 may be much better for peaches than others; high lands are gener- 

 ally better than low lands; rolling land is better than flat; a water 

 front on a lake or broad river is better than an inland location. In 

 inland regions a hillside with a northern exposure is generally pre- 

 ferred. When planting on a hillside care must be taken to keep 

 above the frost line. 



Soil. — The peach does not seem to be particular as to soil, but will 

 succeed on any well drained land with a good sub-soil; the prefer- 

 ence in this State appears to be for a sandy loam, filled with broken 

 stone, from which chestnut timber has been removed. In York and 

 Cumberland counties, what are known as the iron stone soils have 

 given the best results. 



One very important point in the selection of location for a peach 

 orchard has been overlooked by many Pennsylvania growers to their 

 Borrow, namely, a deep soil. No matter how favorable are the other 

 conditions, without a deep, well drained soil and a good sub-soil, no 

 one may hope for a full measure of success, as the ripening crop 

 needs a large amount of moisture and this cannot be obtained from a 

 thin soil. 



Easy Access to MarJcet is an important point. The crop ripemi 

 rapidly and must be disposed of quickly, therefore it is essential that 

 the orchard should be within easy reach of a railroad station, and if 

 two competing lines of road can be reached an advantage in freight 

 rates may be secured. This is more important with peaches than 

 any other fruit crop. Pennsylvania is well supplied with good 

 markets in its hundreds of mining and manufacturing towns, and 

 most of her fertile valleys are intersected by railroads, so that good 

 locations may be had in almost any part of the State within an hours 

 drive of the station. 



Varieties. — In the selection of varieties we must consider our mar- 

 ket. Peaches must be sold direct from the tree, and can be held 

 only for a very short time, hence to secure profitable prices we must 

 have our peaches to ripen when our markets are not well supplied 

 from other States. This necessitates the discarding of all varieties 

 that ripen earlier than Elberta. The glut of southern peaches is 

 over by the time Elberta is ripe, and then for about three weeks we 

 have a comparatively clear field to operate in. Yellow fleshed 



