THE KANSAS PEACH. 



THE PEACH IN KANSAS. 



AA/'ITH the Kansas settlers came the peach. Peach pits were saved 

 at the old Eastern home and brought in pockets and in baggage. 

 I know one gentleman who was accosted on the train while coming to 

 Kansas by the train-boy with fruit ; in the lot were three immense 

 peaches ; asking the price, the old gentleman was astounded to be told 

 twenty-five cents, but he gave it — twenty-five cents for three peaches 

 — solely to obtain the pits, and felt proud of his purchase. Such pits 

 were religiously planted and tended. Their product surely must have 

 been unsatisfactory, but they bore peaches. 



In the following images the experiences and conclusions of Kansas 

 peach growers have been given, and we find that the peach produces 

 fruit on all kinds of soil and on any angle, aspect, or slope. Sandy 

 soil, of which we have a preponderance, seems the favorite. Budded 

 trees are usually planted after a growth of one season from bud ; that 

 is, a two-year root and a one-year top. See chapter on budding. The 

 general way seems to be to trim to a stick, cutting the stick to a length 

 of from six to thirty inches, some leaving it whole. Distance difPers 

 from ten (or even eight) feet to thirty-two feet apart; some planting 

 between young apple trees, others deprecating such practice. In 

 such planting the peach trees should be cut out in seven or eight 

 years; some say they will die of old age by that time; but if a man 

 is a wise cultivator the peach trees w^ill then be in their prime, and it 

 takes "a deal of pluck" to cut down a peach tree with the taste of its 

 luscious fruit still clinging to the month. 



Those who have tried it favor "heading in" bearing trees — that is, 

 cutting back from one-third to one-half of the past year's growth. 

 This tends to keep the tree in bounds, making it stockier, so that it 

 is not so liable to be torn to pieces by the winds or weight of fruit. 

 Thinning on the trees should be practiced more. See article on thin- 

 ning. I have heard of 9000 young peaches being picked from a single 

 tree, and as those left grew larger and heavier, many more had to be 

 taken off to save the limbs from breaking. Many peach trees would 

 live longer and be far more j)rofitable if thinning the fruit was jjrac- 

 ticed. Peach trees should undoubtedly be cultivated, and, where 

 closely planted, nothing should be grown among them after two or 

 three years. 



One of the best crops (for the tree) is vines — melons, pumpkins, 

 squashes, or cucumbers. Live stock running among the trees is harm- 



