Annual Cost Factors in Groiving Peaches 339 



For the purpose of calling to the attention of the reader the 

 more important annual cost factors in the growing of peaches, 

 the following citations are made : 



The cost of growing peaches in the Potomac Valley in 

 West Virginia has been investigated by Arnold.^ The cost 

 factors which he discusses are of definite interest in the 

 present connection. Because of their relation to some of the 

 maintenance operations, the soils used for peaches in the 

 region in question are important to note : 



''The two types of soil considered most favorable for 

 peach orcharding in the mountainous section of the basin of 

 the Potomac are the * chert ' soils, derived from a limestone 

 which in the process of disintegration has left hard, flinty, 

 loose rocks lying on top of a rich, dark loamy, sometimes 

 sandy soil, and the red soils derived from a red and pink 

 shale and sandstone. 



"The chert land usually drains well and does not wash, 

 except in particular cases where the land is very steep and is 

 underlain by a hard, impervious clay. It is usually found 

 on the sides and tops of long steep ranges, such as Romney 

 Mountain, just west of Romney, or on the tops and sides of 

 the knoblike mountains near Keyser, W. Va. Besides being 

 very fertile, the loose rock lying on the surface holds the 

 moisture, a condition found to be very important in peach- 

 growing. 



" The red soils are found principally on the east slopes of 

 mountain ranges and high valleylike areas between the hills, 

 known locally as 'levels.' These lands as a rule have a more 

 level topography and are usually free from large, loose 

 stones. On the hillsides, however, these soils are shallow, 

 sometimes being only a few inches deep over the sandrock or 

 1 U. S. Dept. of Agr. BuU. 29 (1913). 



