UTILIZING THE FRUIT 235 



for giving good fruit when transplanted: and they 

 are left to themselves, w^ithout any training or prun- 

 ing; and heading-dov^n is scarcely thought of, if 

 known : in consequence, the fruit they yield is mean, 

 and the orchard in the end is given up." 



The remarkable manner in which the peach be- 

 came naturalized here is shown further by the fact 

 that the botanical explorer, Nuttall, found the spe- 

 cies growing wild as early as 1812 and as far west 

 as Arkansas. For years beyond memory it has 

 been one of the common wild trees all through the 

 southern Appalachian mountains, these trees having 

 been for many years the source of the commercial 

 "wild" seed so much liked by the nurserymen. 



The development of peach orchards in the modern 

 manner began about 1820, though a large proportion 

 of the early plantations were of seedling trees. Ex- 

 tensive plantings of budded trees were not made 

 until about 1870. From this period to about 1890 

 many good orchards were established, particularly 

 in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and 

 Maryland. 



Later the introduction of the Honey type of 

 peaches, and of the Peen-to, direct from China, as 

 well as of the Spanish race (see page 188), gave a 

 new impetus to peach culture in the South and ex- 

 tended the plantings over large new areas. From 

 1890 to 1900 there came into prominence another 

 new and distinct type of peaches, the Chinese Cling 

 race, brought direct from China. These new varie- 

 ties, mostly from seedlings originating in this coun- 

 try, were found to possess qualities of great value 

 adapting them to commercial cultivation over the 

 entire North American peach belt. The introduc- 

 tion of the Elberta, in particular, gave a genuine 

 boom to the peach-growing industry. Large, new 



