546 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The unsatisfactory state of the peach industry in New York is believed 

 to be due to careless and unscientific methods, such as laciv of cultiva- 

 tion, inattention to insects and diseases, neglect to thin the fruit, and 

 carelessness and untidiness in marketing-. Warm, deep, sandy lands 

 are considered ideal peach soils, but high shaly or gravelly soils in the 

 lake regions, well drained and so situated as to escape the late spring 

 frosts, are well adapted to produce good crops. Very freqnent shallow 

 cultivation of the soil is advised from May until August, when occa- 

 sionally a green crop, as vetcli or crimson clover, can be sown, to be 

 plowed under the next spring. The peach orchard should never be 

 sowed to grain. The trees should be i)Ianted about 1*0 feet apart. In 

 addition to the tillage and green manure crop, fertilizing with ashes, 

 muriate of iiotash, and bone fertilizers is urged. 



The vase-form method of i^runing is advocated, the trunks being 

 short and the top allowed to spread at will. Care should be taken 

 that the branches do not start from the trunk at exactly the same 

 height, thus avoiding the liability of splitting. If the tops are headed 

 they become thicker and shut oft' much of the sun from the ripening 

 fruit. The fruit should be thinned after the "June drop," when the 

 peaches are the size of the end of one's thumb, and no 2 peaches should 

 stand closer together than 5 in. 



In marketing the peaches care should- be taken in packing them, so 

 that they may present an attractive appearance to the purchaser. Out of 

 47 varieties of peaches recommended in lists obtained from 17 growers 

 in the State the following varieties are preferred by 5 or more : Early 

 and Late Crawford, Oldmixon Free, Foster, Elberta, Early Elvers, 

 Brigdon, Mountain Rose, Sal way, ami Wheatland. 



Notes are given on the peach-tree borer, fruit-bark beetle, or pin-hole 

 borer {Scolytus rugulosus), curculio, black peach aphis, fruit rot and 

 twig blight {3ronilia frucUgena) , mildew {Podosphwra o.ri/((C(rnth(v)j black 

 spot {Cladosporium carpophilum), leaf curl, and root galls. Illustrated 

 descrii)tions are given and remedies detailed. 



A map is also given showing the chief peach orchard areas in the 

 Niagara-Ontario district. 



The cultivation of orchards, L. H. Bailey {New YorJc Cornell 8ta. 

 Bui. 72^ pp. 297-311, pi. 1). — General suggestions on the subject of 

 orchard tillage. It is urged that the soil and location be adapted to 

 the i)articular fruit it is desired to grow, and that if perfect natural 

 drainage does not exist tile drainage should be employed. The land 

 should be plowed deeply in the spring, followed by frequent shallow cul- 

 tivation. Fall plowing is discouraged, as it leaves the soil in a loose 

 condition, through which, in winter, the roots maybe injured. For the 

 first 2 years only hoed crops, if any, should be grown in the orchard, 

 a space several feet in extent being left about each tree. Barnyard 

 manure and other fertilizers rich in nitrogen should be cautiously 

 applied, for they are liable to produce luxuriant foliage at the expense 



