PEACH GROWING GEOGRAPHY 3 



with the exception of the northern tier of states, and 

 that in two places the northern limit runs up into 

 Canada. It is indeed a fact that the peach is pecul- 

 iarly the fruit of the United States of America. It 

 is grown much more extensively and more success- 

 fully in this country than in other parts of the world. 

 More good named varieties have originated in the 

 United States than in all the rest of the world put 

 together. In Europe the peach is only a hothouse 

 luxury, while in Persia, China, and Asia generally 

 (the original home of the peach) its culture is so 

 crude as not to compare with what we have in 

 America. 



The distribution of peach culture throughout the 

 United States, however, is by no means uniform 

 within that zone marked off by the northern and 

 southern limits as described above. There are many 

 places where peaches cannot be grown at all, and a 

 great many more where they are not grown to any 

 considerable extent. The distribution of peach cul- 

 ture is extremely spotted. If one could put down 

 the peach-growing regions on the map of the United 

 States, it would look as though the country had 

 broken out with the hives. 



These local developments of peach culture are de- 

 termined by various conditions, which conditions are 

 very various and deserve critical study. So far as 

 the writer knows, no pomologist has yet given the 

 matter the close attention it deserves, and no one 

 has pointed out the reasons for the curious localiza- 

 tion of peach growing, except in a few special and 

 minor instances. 



Speaking very roughly, we may say that some of 

 these local peach sections have been developed on 

 account of favorable soil conditions. It may be that 

 two or three counties or a dozen farms are espe- 



