42 Where to Plant CPeacties. 



Where to Plant Peaches. 



BY PARKEE EARLE, 



i 



THEEE arc two classes of people who plant peaches : the great number of farmers, 

 gardeners, and amateur pomologists who grow thein for private use only, and who 

 should be governed in their planting by quite different considerations than those 

 controlling the market-grower, constitute the first, and far the most important class. 

 A majority of the American people own or occupy, and to some extent cultivate a 

 sufficient quantity of land to make it possible for them to grow much, if not all the 

 fruit which their families consume. It is quite possible, that in many instances it 

 may cost more to grow it at home than to buy an equal quantity in the market; but 

 there are abundant reasons why many varieties of fruit should be home-grown, even 

 at some additional expense. The leading advantage is, that if we grow our fruits at 

 home ^oe A«fe them, and it is not always convenient or possible to buy according to our 

 tastes. The fruits we grow ourselves, we can have in their greatest perfection and 

 beauty, and this is generally impossible to secure in the market. Fruit picked for 

 shipment to distant markets, cannot be allowed to reach perfect maturity, and the 

 damages incident to transportation and sale destroy most of that delicacy of beauty 

 and flavor belonging to fine fruits, before they reach our tables. 



But more important than these considerations of health and physical enjoyment, I 

 would suggest the moral and aesthetic value of growing fruits, to one's family and 

 one's self. Good fruits are a civilizer. They appeal to every finer faculty. They are 

 especially an educator of children. We all look back to those days when we played 

 in the green shadows of the old apple trees, or shook down their crimson burden in 

 harvest time, as among the brightest and most sacred of our childhood. The man 

 who fails to plant a market orchard, may not be impeached for neglect of duty; but 

 any man, who, having land and a family, neglects to plant fruit tress, is morally 

 guilty: for beyond all pecuniary interests, the use of fruits is essential to health; 

 and the beautiful and varied lessons of their growth contribute to the finest moral 

 culture. So let every owner of a bit of land plant 



'• Fruits that shall swell in sunny June. 

 And redden in the August noon. 

 And drop, as gentle airs come by 

 That fan tlie blue September sky : 

 While children wild with noisy glee 

 Shall scent their fragrance as they pass. 

 And search for them the tufted grass." 



As I would have the largest possible number of the people grow fruits of all kinds 

 for home supply, I write these lines to encourage a more general planting of peaches, 



