TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 67 



be a question. Yard manure has its uses, and in some soils is very desir- 

 able, even in a peach grove. A faithful stirring of the soil is commonly a 

 sufficient fertilizer until the trees come into bearing. After that, some- 

 thing more is needed to maintain a vigorous growth. 



Some growers, in their haste to get large returns, have killed their trees 

 by forcing them too rapidly. A moderate growth of peach wood is produc- 

 tive of the best results. It will endure more cold in winter and more 

 drouth in summer than if hurried into a rapid development. But impov- 

 erished trees will not bring desirable returns. A judicious use of fertilizers 

 is among the essentials of this business. 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



These claim the growers' attention. The tree must be protected or 

 saved from their ravages by continued vigilance. The peach-borer is an 

 insidious enemy, but the work of counteracting its ravages is not 

 difficult, 



DISEASES OF THE TREE. 



i 



These are the greatest source of discouragement to peach-growing at 

 the present time. Yellows, as the disease is called, threatens the destruc- 

 tion of commercial peach-growing in the most noted belts in our country. 

 It is doing a deadly work. Where can a remedy be found? Who can 

 step in and say it shall go no further? The man that can do this by any 

 practicable means will be a great benefactor. 



Where the disease does not prevail and where it is restrained by the use 

 of the axe and cremation, the peach grove is undoubtedly remunerative; 

 but unless its ravages are stayed by the potent hand of public sentiment 

 and law, it may steal into every nook and corner of the land. It is already 

 national in extent and will require a corresponding effort to eradicate it. 

 Let every lover of the peach work for this end. Other diseases are less 

 damaging to the interest involved and need not be dwelt upon here. 



MARKETS. 



When this fruit is in small supply, markets are open everywhere to 

 receive and handle the inviting Crawfords and Red Cheeks; but when 

 there is an abundance, every village and hamlet is supplied from its own 

 surroundings and the fruit of large groves must seek a distant distribution. 

 The larger peach-belts always require a distant market. The handling of 

 such perishable fruit to the best advantage is still after years of experience 

 a question of importance; and the grower is often at his wits' end to know 

 how to carry on this part of his work successfully. 



Facilities for transportation are as essential as the fruit itself. The 

 evaporator and canner come in for all that can be used or preserved by 

 such means; but the fresh fruit, well ripened on the tree, is palatable to so 

 large a part of the human race that the demand for it is only limited by a 

 lack of facilities for securing it. Let these be more extended and peach 

 groves will soon be more abundant and more remunerative. Such perish- 

 able fruit must be put into the hands of the consumer without any delay. 

 This fact always creates an emergency, and an emergency makes the 

 carrying trade expensive to the producer. The demand for this fruit will 



