THE FAMILY ORCHARD l8l 



If the would-be peach grower is a suburbanite 

 with a half-acre or less of land at his disposal, he has 

 naturally no choice at all, but must use that soil 

 he has. If his soil is too unpropitious, he had bet- 

 ter give up peach growing altogether; but ordinarily 

 by tile drainage, deep working, adding vegetable 

 matter and by other approved methods of soil im- 

 provement, he can make a promising start. 



In the family fruit garden peaches will be grown 

 along with other fruits. The spacing and arrange- 

 ment will therefore be a compromise calculated to 

 meet the needs of all sorts. A good plan is to adopt 

 the square rod as a unit. Standard apple trees can 

 then be set two rods apart with fillers between, con- 

 sisting of dwarf apples, peach trees, plums or what- 

 ever may be required. Peaches in a block by them- 

 selves following this unit would stand at one rod — 

 i6y^ feet — apart each way. If space is extra valua- 

 ble and care is correspondingly good, bush fruits 

 such as currants and gooseberries can be grown in 

 these smaller spaces, at least for the first few years. 



The farmer who puts out peaches for family use, 

 and with whom land is not a serious matter, should 

 be urged to "get a plenty while he's gittin'." He is 

 apt to shy at 50 cents a tree asked by the tree ped- 

 dler; and not being used to tree planting an order 

 for a dozen trees looks bigger to him than a thou- 

 sand looks to a real fruit grower. But peach trees 

 can be had for much less than 50 cents apiece, and 

 two dozen trees are not too many for the smallest 

 farm family. I should want a hundred ; but perhaps 

 this is the judgment of a man inured to fruit grow- 

 ing, and perhaps I couldn't eat so many peaches any- 

 way. 



Spring planting will be safest for beginners. But 

 the novice should observe with particular care the 



