ELBERT A PEACH. 



it will give the trees a chance to make 

 ready for better crops. Such severe 

 pruning should never be done after the 

 flow of sap has started in the spring, but 

 always when the wood is dormant. 



In cultivating peach orchards, it is 

 the common practice to plow away from 

 the trees in the spring, then harrow the 

 ground, and by the middle of June plow 

 again, this time throwing the earth 

 toward the trees, leveling the ground 

 and doing all after-cultivation with the 

 harrow. Some successful peach growers 

 do not plow at all, but loosen the 



ground in the spring with the disc or 

 cut-away harrow, doing all after-cultiva- 

 tion wiih the same tool. or a common 

 harrow, aiming at all times to have a 

 mulch of mellow earth upon the surface. 

 As soon after every rain as the ground 

 is dry enough to work, the harrow is 

 started to break the crust and renew the 

 mulch at once. Continue cultivation 

 until the fruit is about to ripen. If 

 kept growing all summer the wood will 

 ripen and fruit buds develop in good 

 quantity for next year's crop. — American 

 Agriculturist. 



ELBERTA PEACH, 



HHAVE been growing the Elberta 

 both in Georgia and here in Con- 

 necticut for some years, and there 

 is no question in my mind but 

 what it is the best yellow peach now 

 known, far superior to the Crawfords in 

 every particular. As to its coloring, it 

 is very bright indeed in the south ; but 

 the Elberta, as grown in Delaware and 

 New Jersey and in some sections of 

 New England, the last few years, has 

 been somewhat lacking in color, and if 

 there is any one fault that may be found 

 with this variety, I think it will be that 

 in northern sections of the country it 

 may lack the red blush on the sunny 

 side, which makes it so attractive and 

 desirable. Of course we shall know 

 more about this after a few years more 

 of fruiting ; but I am of the opinion 

 now that in northern sections of the 



country we shall have to feed our lands 

 liberally with potash to give the Elberta 

 its best color. 



As to its hardiness of fruit bud. 

 Monday morning, December 28th last, 

 the temperature in this vicinity ranged 

 from 15 to 20 degrees below zero. 

 Since then we have had a week of quite 

 warm weather, thawing out things pretty 

 thoroughly. An examination of our 

 Elberta orchards show that very few of 

 the fruit buds have been injured — prac- 

 tically all alive after this severe freeze ; 

 and it was one of the varieties that gave 

 us some little fruit here last year when 

 the peach crop was a practical failure. 

 It is more hardy than Mountain Rose, 

 Oldmixon and Stump, which are quite 

 desirable and hardy varieties here. — 

 J. H. Hale, in Meehan's Monthly. 



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