No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL.TURE. 511 



and woman to do, what they love most to do, and I believe the man 

 or woman who grows peaches should hist love the peaches for their 

 own sake. I think the man who shoes a horse, should love to shoe 

 him, and have him go on his journey better fitted to do the work 

 that is intended for him to do, and that he loves the horse better 

 than the man who just wants to drive the nails in. We sometimes 

 forget that there are some who are just as well fitted to raise pota- 

 toes as peaches, and if he can get more for the potatoes, he had 

 rather raise them, but we sometimes forget what our love is, the 

 man who likes to grow peaches better than he does potatoes, will 

 make most monej^ with peaches. 



I was visiting a friend in Nev/ York State. In the morning- we 

 drove into the railroad station — it w^as the day after Thanksgiving — 

 and while standing there, a slick looking, well dressed fellow pur- 

 chased his ticket, and I noticed him put some change in his pocket, 

 and walk away, and leave his ticket there, and my friend took it 

 over to him and handed it to him, and said, "I guess you were down 

 spending the night with your girl, or in love, you are so forgetful." 

 "No, I am not in love, I am married." So I think some of us forget 

 we are in love, but just married, and so keep on working for money 

 rather than plums. 



Almost any soil will grow a peach tree, but a light, sandy loam 

 will not grow a too vigorous tree. If I take my choice, I would 

 have a lighter soil for the peach tree than for any other tree fruit, 

 providing the elevation was all right. In certain stifl' clay soil the 

 Crawford varieties will thrive, but a good loamy soil is good enough. 

 I don't want to plant in valleys or in hollows, but I want to climb 

 up the hill and plant my trees there. Some people talk about the 

 eastern slope and the southern slope. I don't think it makes very 

 much difference, if you have got enough elevation above the sur- 

 rounding country so there will be good air, frost, and w^ater drain- 

 age. 



The market location is a very important point. We w^ant to be 

 near a market, if we want to sell at home. Of course, the market is 

 all over America, but if we are growing them in a small way, our 

 facilities for shipping are lessened, because shipping by express is 

 demoralizing; so if you are not blessed with a home market, you 

 w^ant to engage in it large enough to be able to ship in car lots either 

 alone or in combinations with neighbors, and you must fit yourself 

 in your orchard, and keep yourself in touch with the local conditions 

 that surround you. 



The labor question is getting to be an important one and must be 

 taken into consideration. The labor question in agriculture today, 

 or in any line, is one that must be thought of very carefully. The 

 variety we should plant is also another question, and the harvesting 

 you must cover by considering the labor problem. It is one of 

 the important factors of the day in ascertaining where you can 

 get your labor at harvesting season. You might be able to harvest 

 your fruit at a certain season of the year and have an abundance 

 of help, while two or three weeks later or earlier, you could not ob- 

 tain sufficient labor to harvest your crop. So that the selection of 

 varieties has to be made not only in relation to markets, but to the 

 labor question as well. 



In Connecticut, where I grow them, and down in Georgia, while I 



