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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 19:1 



Peach Trees From Stones 



MUt A. Mtyle, Rickarad HiU, Oat. 



In the February issue of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist, there appeared a picture 

 of a peach tree grown from a pit planted 

 by Mrs. R. L. Brereton, of Toronto. This 

 statement was made: "As a rule only 

 one out of a hundred seedlings turn out 

 worth growing." 



When King Edward, as Prince of 

 Wales, was in Toronto, my mother was 

 visiting at her old home there. While 

 waiting to see the prince she bought a 

 dozen (Deaches. The pits were saved and 

 taken home to the farm, which is situated 

 on the gravel road between Paris and 

 Brantford. My father, the late Mr. 

 Henry Moyle, of Paris, planted them in 

 the garden. They all grew. The trees 

 were never sprayed or pruned, but year 

 after year they were loaded with the 

 choicest fruit, similar to the original 

 peaches. The branches had to be sup- 

 ported with props to prevent their break- 

 ing off. They were a yellow peach, 

 firm flesh, very juicy, free stone, and the 

 skin had a beautiful bloom. 



One year my father picked eleven 

 peaches, measuring seven by nine inches, 

 .nnd took them to the Toronto Exhibition. 

 They were "highly recommended," but 

 as there was not a full dozen they did not 

 receive a prize. All the pits planted pro- 

 duced the same peach. 



I remember 

 one day after 

 coming from 

 school, eating 

 six peaches and 

 putting the 

 stones in the 

 ground in the 

 back yard on the 

 south side of the 

 house. In the 

 spring six trees 

 made their ap- 

 pearance. Fath- 

 er said, "Bless 

 the child, whv 

 did you put 

 them there?" 

 because they 

 were in a very 

 i nconvenient 

 place. I replied, 

 because I want- 

 ed "to see them 

 grow." They 

 were allowed to 

 remain ; many 

 a basket of lus- 

 cious fruit was 

 picked from 

 them. 



If I remember 

 correctly, the 

 trees did not 

 bear till they 

 were six years 

 old. The orig- 

 inal twelve trees 



were so large and strong, we children 

 of twelve and fourteen years of age 

 climbed up and out on the branches to 

 pick the jjeaches. They were not for- 

 bidden fruit. Many baskets of choice 

 fruit were given to friends with the in- 

 struction "be sure to plant the stones." 



18 EXPEEIMENTING 



So convinced am I that the finest 

 peaches can be grown from the stones, I 

 am experimenting at our summer home 

 at Richmond Hill, Ont. Last September 

 the parings and stones from several bas- 

 kets of choice Crawford peaches bought 

 in Toronto, were buried in the kitchen 

 garden, as we had no other way of dis- 

 posing of the garbage. This year a num- 

 ber of peach trees came up. Some are 

 where they can remain, while others are 

 too close and will need to be transplanted. 

 I am an advocate of fall planting and 

 will have them moved in November, and 

 watch the result with interest. We are 

 told "it is too far north here, the peaches 

 will not ripen," but we. have succeeded 

 in doing a number of things people said 

 could not be done, and it is worth trying. 



I have successfully packed my apples 

 in boxes for a number of years. The only 

 way to do this profitably is to produce at 

 least ninety per cent, number one. — Earl- 

 and Lee, President Stoney Creek Farm- 

 ers' Institute. 



Remarks by Fruit Growers 



Whenever a large limb is sawed from 

 a tree the wound should be at once cover- 

 ed with wax or thick paint. 



Neglected fruit trees are not worth 

 the land they occupy. They are an eye- 

 sore, and when pest infested are a posi- 

 tive menace to the neighborhood. 



Peach trees are headed at about eigh- 

 teen inches from the ground and are not 

 allowed to get over ten feet high. In 

 order to hold them there they prefer 

 cutting back in the summer. — J. W. 

 Smith & Sons, Winona. 



In my opinion fruit growers will have 

 to change their ideas of pruning in order 

 to meet the changed conditions. The old 

 idea of thinning out the centre of the 

 trees to let the sunlight in has resulted 

 in many orchards, apple especially, be- 

 coming too tall for the care that a tree 

 now has to receive. — J. O. Duke, Ruth- 

 ven, Ont. 



In the spring of 1910 a blight attacked 

 many of the apple trees in Huron County. 

 This, with other cau.ses, led to the 

 lightest crop of apples known in the 

 county for twenty years. It was notic- 

 ed that from the trees that were spray- 

 ed nearly all produced some apples and 

 seemed to get over the effects of the 

 blight sooner than the unsprayed trees. 

 — R. R. Sloan, Porter's Hill, Ontario. 



A Well Managed Orchard that U Productive and Profitable 



ICany hundreds of apple oTcharda in Ontario that have been neglected for years have this year been pruned, sprayed 



and oultiTated. There are thousands more which only require the same treatment to realize handsome returns 



for their owners. The fine orchard here shown is owned by Mr. W. V. Hopkins, Burlington, Ont. It is only 



one of many in that splendid fruit district. 



