EXPERIMENT STATION WORK WITH PEACHES. 



By C. B. Smith, Office of Experiment Station.^. 



Of the deciduous fruits in the United States peaches stand second 

 in importance onl}^ to apples. According to the United States Census 

 of 1900, apples constitute 55 per cent of the fruit trees gro\\Ti in the 

 United States, peaches and nectarines following with 27.2 per cent. 

 Nectarines are so closely related to the peach, and are of compara- 

 tively such minor importance that the two are classified together in 

 .the Census report. 



The peach, like the apple, is grown in every State and Territory of 

 the Union except Alaska. The States in which peach growing is an 

 important commercial industry are Michigan, with over eight million 

 trees, Georgia, California, and Texas, with over seven million trees, 

 followed b}^ Kansas, ]\Iissouri, Arkansas, Maryland, New York, Dela- 

 ware, etc., in the order named. The tree itself is quite hardy, being 

 capable, when in a well-ripened condition, of withstanding a tempera- 

 ture of — 20° F. or more, wliile it succeeds in the South much better 

 than the apple. A peculiarity which limits the area of its successful 

 culture for fruit is its early blooming habit. A week or two of warm 

 weather in \\Tnter or early spring is often sufficient to swell the blos- 

 som buds so that they are easily killed by subsequent freezes, thus 

 putting an end to the crop of fruit for that season. The successful 

 culture of the peach in any locality largely centers around tliis prob- 

 lem of delajdng the swelling of the blossom buds and blooming period 

 mitil danger from late spring frosts is past. 



The fruit of the peach is so delicious that its successfid culture 

 excites interest and trial in every locality. Nearly all of the experi- 

 ment stations have made some investigations regarding this fruit, the 

 results of which have appeared in nearly one hundred separate bulle- 

 tins and reports scattered over a period of twenty years. This 

 accoimt aims to bring together in brief digested form all the more 

 important data secured in this work along cultural lines, as well as 

 of similar work reported by investigators in other countries. Work 

 with insects and diseases of peaches and the results of tests of varie- 

 ties are not considered in this review. A large number of the experi- 

 ment stations have issued bulletins covering in detail the entire field 

 of peach culture in their respective localities. These bulletins are 

 noted by number farther along in this account under the head of 



literature. 



399 



