STARTING COMMERCIAL PEACH ORCHARDS.. 



air. Apples and grapes should be 

 ripe, pears a little green when put in 

 the storage room. Plums were kept 

 over and exhibited at the Fruit and 

 Flower show held the 14th and 15th 

 of June, in Cleveland. Sweet cherries 

 have been kept in good condition six 

 weeks, Black Cap raspberries three 

 weeks. Potatoes of last year taken 

 out and eaten August 10 were declared 

 to be better than ripe potatoes of this 

 season. 



As the house has only been in opera- 



tion one season, further experience is 

 desirable before its merits can be fully 

 estimated. The amount of profit in 

 such a storage of fruit is governed so 

 much by the demand and supply of 

 produce, that no general rules can be 

 given on that point. It should be ob- 

 served that cold storage will not make 

 imperfect fruit fair, or bad eggs good, 

 but will very profitably carry many kinds 

 of perishable produce beyond glutted 

 markets into times of scarcity and good 

 prices. 



STARTING COMMERCIAL PEACH ORCHARDS. 



Z>1 r^HE selection of varieties is a 

 very important matter. Some 

 of the finest peaches do not 

 bear enough to be profitable. 

 The fruit of some of the best varieties is 

 too tender for shipment. Others ripen 

 at a time when larger and better varie- 

 ties are in the market. The list of pro- 

 fitable market sorts is small. In my 

 locality the Smock, Salway and Late 

 Crawford exceed all others in the 

 amount of fruit harvested. The phe- 

 nomenal success of the Elberta has 

 created a large demand for trees of that 

 variety. So far it is the best all around 

 peach grown. A list suitable for one 

 locality might not be the one which 

 should be selected for another. Varie- 

 ties do not behave alike in all localities. 

 Markets are not alike in their demands ; 

 and no list can be given which is 

 adapted to all localities. 



Pruning should begin before the tree 

 is planted and continue during its pro- 

 ductive years, but it is most important 

 that it be well done for the first three or 

 four years. The roots may be pruned 

 before planting. Much of the taproot 

 and most of the laterals may safely be 

 cut away. If all root pruning is done 



in the fall, before heeling in the trees, 

 the wounded surfaces will granulate 

 during the winter, and root growth 

 begin much earlier in the spring. At 

 planting time the top should be pruned 

 to a straight whip not more than 24 or 

 30 inches high. The pruning the first 

 year should consist in shortening the 

 leading branches of the last year's 

 growth, leaving them distributed along 

 the stem left at planting time. Avoid 

 having the branches radiate from a 

 common center If properly distributed 

 along the trunk, a branch broken by 

 wind or an overload of fruit works no 

 permanent injury to the tree. Pruning 

 after the first year should consist in 

 shortening the main branches so as to 

 form a short jointed, compact head. 

 Continue this shortening process each 

 year, doing the work when the wood is 

 dormant If vigorous growth is allowed 

 each year without shortening, in a few 

 years the weight of the fruit is borne at 

 the end of long branches, which are 

 sure to break with the first load of fruit, 

 when it ought to be in its prime. An 

 old bearing orchard, which has not been 

 properly trained, should be headed back 

 severely. Should a crop failure follow, 



28 



