SUMMER MEETING. 65 



We hear of the Crosby, the Champion and other hardy peaches, 

 some of them withstanding fifteen and seventeen degrees below zero, 

 and producing good crops the following season. They would be con- 

 sidered ironclad in North and Central Illinois and other points in the 

 same latitude, but would they be hardy in South Missouri ? The past 

 few years have proven that the native seedlings are better adapted 

 to our climate, and will produce fruit oftener than the imported varie- 

 ties. Why is this ? 



Is it because they are so hardy and would withstand the low 

 temperature of the North ? I think not. It is not a question of how 

 much cold can they endure and be fruitful, but how much heat they 

 can stand without being forced into action during the warm days of 

 early winter. Why are the native seedlings more certain than some of 

 the imported varieties ! 



I think it is a plain case of adaptation from a natural cause. These 

 seedlings have fruited in this country for a great many years, their 

 seeds have been planted or came up wherever they chanced to fall ; 

 the earliest of them are killed by late frosts, the others that come on 

 later survive, and, if other conditions are congenial to their growth, 

 they produce the bearing tree which we call the native seedling. I 

 think it is possible, by careful selection, to produce a peach from this 

 native stock that would be an annual bearer. And here alone are they 

 likely to retain those hardy qualities. 



The hardiness of a peach may be increased many degrees, by pro- 

 per culture, or decreased in the same ratio by neglect. Where trees 

 have had poor cultivation and their growth checked by allowing the 

 weeds to grow during early summer, their fruit buds become dormant, 

 the foliage is mostly shed and the tree is ready for winter. Later on 

 we have warm fall rains and these same trees, in their effort to produce 

 new foliage, start dormant fruit buds, thereby changing their condition 

 and making them very sensitive to cold. These same trees, kept grow- 

 ing by thorough cultivation, would retain their leaves, thereby having 

 foliage enough to cast off or assimilate the late flow of sap, allowing 

 the tree to go into winter quarters in tine condition to withstand ten 

 or twelve degrees below zero. 



There may be many choice varieties now in general use which 

 might prove to be annual bearers if given proper care and cultivation. 

 We know that the difference in the apple as to its being affected by 

 heat is very marked. The Jannet and Rome Beauty require a greater 

 amount of heat to start growth than does the Transcendant Crab. 

 There may be a similar difference in the peach, if not so widely marked. 

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