64 Staie Hoiiicultural Society. 



state, if care is taken to select the right kind of site, to plant varieties 

 adapted to the climate, and in the northern states, to give winter pro- 

 tection. Even along our northern border, peaches may be grown out of 

 doors, if the trees are dug nnder, tipped over and covered with son:e 

 material for protection during the long, severe winters. Some of the 

 finest peaches have been grown in this way, but such care and attention 

 can not profitably be given in a commercial orchard. 



The climate is one of the first considerations in the selection of a 

 location, and we have in the United States a wide variety to select from. 

 It was formerly believed that the peach was a tropical tree and must 

 have a warm climate, but that theory is not well founded. The peach 

 is probably a native of China, and it succeeds best in the middle latitudes. 

 Care should be taken not to select a location much subject to severe win- 

 ters or late spring frosts, and also to avoid southern regions where the 

 winters are very mild, as in such regions, the buds are often forced into 

 bloom in late winter or early spring and are afterward killed by frost. 

 It is best to select a temperate climate which has sufiicient rain fall 

 evenly distributed throughout the year. I should say thirty-six to fifty 

 inches of rain fall would be about the proper amount. 



Peaches may be grown successfully on various kinds of soil if all 

 other conditjions are favorable. Commercial orchards may be found 

 growing successfully in New England on stony and gravelly soils; in 

 Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, on fertile loams and on very light 

 pine sands; in Pennsylvania, on mountain soils derived from limestone 

 and sandstone ; in South Carolina and Georgia, on light pine sands and on 

 stiff red clay lands derived from the local decomposition of granites; in 

 Michigan, on pine sands, even on the beach where the sand is so light 

 that it is blown about by the winds; in New York, on quite a variety of 

 clays, gravels and sand, composing the old lake bottom of Lake Ontario, 

 and in Kansas on the deep, black prairie soils. In general, however, tlie 

 peach reaches its highest perfection on light, warm, well drained, sandy 

 or loamy land with a clay subsoil. Muck soil, heavy clays, that hold 

 water, and all wet, frosty lands are always to be avoided. 



The shipping distance and mode of shipment to the best markets 

 is a matter of gTeat importance. There are thousands of acres of land in 



