HORTICULTURAL BULLETINS. 



341 



Fig. 1.— Peach tree in a Maryland 

 orchard, showing customary way 

 of pruning. Stake about 3 feet high. 



bottom of Lake Ontario; in Florida, on flat pine sands; in Kansas, on deep black 

 prairie soils. Ou all of these soils there are now growing very successful and 

 profitable peach orchards. 



In general it maj^ be said that the peach prefers 

 light, warm, well drained, sandy or loamy land 

 with a clay subsoil, although some very successful 

 orchards liave been grown upon ratlier heavy clays 

 and many on deep sands. Muck soils, heavy clays 

 retentive of moisture, and in general all wet 

 lands and flat, frosty lands are especially to be 

 avoided. 



In the planting of commercial orcliards, prox- 

 imity to large markets and ease of shipment 

 should never be forgotten. An excellent location 

 may be worthless, owing to lack of facilities for 

 transportation. There are thousands of acres 

 of land in the United States suitable for peach- 

 growing which it would be folly to plant at 

 present, owing to lack of shipping facilities. Com- 

 peting railway and steamboat lines are a great 

 advantage in securing low freights. One of the 

 great drawbacks to successful peach-growing in 

 the south, until recently, and one which still exists 

 in many parts, is the fact that the growers are not 

 able to secure favorable freight rates. 



In selecting a site for the orchard, several 

 things should be borne in mind. Some fields on 

 a farm may be much better adapted to the peach 

 than others. In general, the higher lands are 

 to be selected rather than the lower, and in north- 

 ern regions a water front is preferable to an inland location; in inland regions, a 

 hillside with a northern exposure is generally better than one with a southern 

 exposure, this being due to the fact that the 

 northern exposure will somewhat retard the 

 opening of the blossoms, and in this way 

 orchards will escape late spring frosts, while if 

 set in more sunny situations they might be 

 induced to open blossoms a week or two earlier 

 and then be caught by late frosts. In the 

 Michigan peach orchards bordering on lake 

 Michigan it has been found that the cold air 

 from the lake retards the opening of the blos- 

 som a week or ten days, the inland orchards 

 being in full blossom before those on the lake 

 'front have opened. The advantage of this in 

 case of late frosts is obvious. 



The fear has sometimes been expressed that 

 the ravages of yellows and other diseases 

 would finally put an end to peach-growing in 

 the United States, but there is certainly no 

 immediate danger. In North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Arkan- 

 sas, Texas, and California, there are many 

 admirable locations for peach-growing as yet 

 unoccupied. California alone could grow 

 enough peaches to supply the whole United 

 States. 



Having decided on climate, soil, site, and loca- 

 tion with reference to market, the next thing 

 is the preparation of the land for planting. This 

 should be plowed and cultivated as carefully as for a crop of wheat, corn, or cotton. 

 The laud should then be cross-marked and holes dug for the trees at the inter- 

 sections. In general it is best to plant trees not closer together than 20 by 20 feet, 

 especially if the soil is in good condition. In some places, however, where the soil 

 is poor and where the orchards are not expected to last more than a dozen years, 

 the trees may be planted closer— for example, 10 feet one way by 20 feet the other. 



Fig. 2 —Peach tree in a Delaware or- 

 chard, showing customary way of 

 pruning. Stake about 3 feet high. 



