THE KANSAS PEACH, 15 



the region of country for which I am writing (the Piedmont belt), 

 we find that the so-called red lands as well as the gray and those 

 that are composed of sandy loam with a clay subsoil all produce first- 

 class peaches. 



Ill — PREPARATION. 



The entire surface should be plowed deeply before planting ; then 

 check each way with a plow, planting where the furrows cross each 

 other. Dig the holes sufficiently large to admit the roots without 

 cramping. In locations where the subsoil is poor it is advisable to 

 dig a hole, say three feet in diameter and eighteen inches deep, and 

 then fill up with good surface soil, leaving the excavation that is to 

 receive the tree of such a depth that the tree, when planted, will be 

 about the same depth, or a little deeper, than it grew in the nursery. 

 The proper distance apart for planting is from sixteen to twenty feet 

 each way. In orchards with sloping or uneven surface we generally 

 recommend locating the rows as near a horizontal line as practicable, 

 about eighteen feet apart, and the trees in the rows sixteen feet apart. 



IV — VARIETIES. 



The selection of varieties for the commercial orchard is a point 

 that is vital to its success, and in making this selection there are a 

 number of considerations that demand our attention. While I do not 

 condemn new varieties, yet it is wisdom on the part of the commer- 

 cial grower to "touch them lightly" until he has tested them himself, 

 or they have been tested by others in soils and locations similar to 

 his own. Then there is the matter of hardiness in fruit, and conse- 

 quently greater certainty in producing regular and paying crops. For 

 while a variety may be beautiful in appearance and first-class in fla- 

 vor, it may, on account of its unproductiveness, be unworthy of a 

 place in the commercial orchard. The grower should also study the 

 markets that he wishes to supply, that he may learn what style of 

 peaches is most in demand in these markets. He should also study 

 the production of other peach centers with which he may be brought 

 in competition. For instance, if some other favored locality sends, at 

 a certain season, large quantities of some leading, first-class variety to 

 market, it would not be wise to endeavor to compete with them at the 

 same season with any variety in the smallest degree inferior to what 

 they are sending in such large quantities to the market. 



The commercial grower should therefore confine his list to a few 

 varieties. If the fruit is being grown for a home market, then, of 

 course, a greater range would be admissible. ... A good reason 

 for planting only a few varieties is that this will enable the grower to 

 have his fruit carried to the market at less expense. Having large 

 quantities to ripen at once, he can ship by car-loads. The difference 



