LECTURES »AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. Ill 



PEACH CULTURE. 



BY J. B. DUMONT. 

 [Read at Otsego Institute] 



That there are larger profits in the caltivation of the peach than in any 

 other crop, there can be no doubt, other things being equal. To raise peaches 

 successfully requires a careful and judicious study of the most important 

 things needful for the success of the undertaking. If you have not a high 

 plat of ground, which will catch the prevailing winds, and which lies above 

 the cold stratas of the atmosphere, or which is not naturally well drained, or 

 which is naturally too heavily mixed with clay, do not plant a peach orchard; 

 or if, having the right elevation and soils, you are not prepared to cultivate 

 and manure as thoroughly as you would for wheat or any other crop, then do 

 not plant an orchard ; or, if you are prepared in both of these particulars, you 

 cannot spend the time to dig out and eradicate the grub at the root of your 

 trees, fall and spring, do not plant an orchard ; or if, having all these, you 

 cannot make the wants of your orchard, profiting by the experience and 

 experiments of others, your constant study, do not plant an orchard. Because, 

 if you plant on any but high and well ventilated ground, you will lose many 

 of your trees by the severity of the winter, and what you have left will only 

 yield you one or two crops in three or four years, by reason of severity of 

 winter or spring frosts, or if your soil is too heavy and you can only plant a 

 few varieties, such as the Crawfords, and therefore can not meet the wants of 

 the peach market, or if not well drained, you can not grow peaches. 



To grow a peach orchard you must give it, besides pruning, the same care 

 and cultivation that you would a field of corn. If your land needs manure 

 for corn, do not give it any less for peaches; and, while it may not be best, it 

 is generally practiced to raise a crop of corn in a peach orchard the first two 

 or three years, it being the least exhaustive of any crop. After this the peach 

 crop will pay for all you may do for the orchard, and the more you do the 

 better it will pay, if your orchard has been well cared for the first three years. 

 Thorough mulching and proper fertilizing agents administered to the roots of 

 the tree, to supply exhaustion, and the necessary cultivation between the rows 

 to keep your orchard clean, will insure you a healthy, vigorous, profitable 

 orchard. Of course, in connection with this, judicious and careful pruning 

 is absolutely necessary. 



For a good market orchard, I would set 5 Amsden's June, 5 Early Rivers, 5 

 Hale's Early, 5 Cooledge Favorite, 5 Early Crawford or Foster, 5 Richmond. 

 25 Old Mixon or Stump-the-world, 25 Jaques Rareripe, and 20 Late Craw- 

 fords, in every one hundred trees. This will give you an orchard that will be 

 as well distributed through the season, and will give as good returns, as any 

 other varieties, and give you as early a free-stone, Hale's Early, as is now 

 known, without giving an excessive amount of clings, which are only valuable 

 because of their earliness. 



I have thus far spoken of the peach orchard as though there were no 

 diseases to which the peach tree is liable. This is certainly not true, because 

 of the prevalence of yellows or vegetable chlorosis; for me to attempt a 

 description of this disease is entirely unnecessary at this time. Suffice it to 

 say that this disease has been known in Michigan for nearly twenty years, and 



