Summer Meeting. 67 



the benefit they receive from the cultivation. The peach tree is sensi- 

 tive to clean cultivation and will yield no profit if left standing in the 

 sod and neglected. 



When the trees are planted they should be cut back somewhat and 

 headed about eighteen inches from the ground.. They should be pruned 

 with respect to the main center leader so as to form a well roimded head. 

 If several main branches are allowed to grow out from nearly the same 

 point on the trunk, when the tree is loaded with fruit, the giving way of 

 any of these branches is verj- apt to involve all the rest and cause the 

 entire tree to split down, hence the main branches should be started at 

 different heights. After the trees have come into bearing, the tops 

 should be shortened annually by cutting off from one-half to two-thirds 

 of the previous year's growth. Cut out all the dead wood, and keep the 

 tree full nearly to the main" trunk of small bearing twigs. Trees should 

 never be headed four or five feet high as that exposes their trunks to 

 the hot, burning sun and much damage is done. 



Unless the soil is very strong it will be found necessary to give some 

 attention to fertilizing. Generally there is no objection to the use of 

 barn-yard manure, but when this can not be had we mtust depend upon 

 clover, cow peas or commercial fertilizers. In the latter we should 

 use principally potash salts, and phosphates rather than nitrogenous 

 fertilizers. Too much nitrogen causes the tree to make an excessive 

 growth of wood and foliage at the expense of the fruit. Fifty to one 

 hundred pounds per acre of nitrate of soda or its equivalent in dried 

 blood or sulphate of ammonia will furnish sufficient nitrogen where it 

 is needed at all, while from four hundred to five hundred pounds of 

 nitrate of potash, sulphate of potash or kainit can be used to advantage, 

 if it is not placed too close to the trunks of the trees. Potash and phos- 

 phates should be put on in the fall and plowed down, but nitrogenous 

 fertilizers should always be applied in the spring. Fnleached hard- 

 wood ashes are always beneficial to the orchard. The peach grower 

 who has never fertilized his orchard, would be surprised at the difference 

 in quantity and quality of fruit which will result from careful fertilizing 

 Careful fertilizing will result in fine crops and good prices. 



