PEACHES i.\ WKSTKIJX XKW YORK 1073 



heads, and are now so high that it is slow and expensive work to 

 harvest the fruit. The only disadvantage of low-headed trees is 

 that it is not so easy to work with a team among them, but the low 

 extension orchard tools now on the market overcome this objection. 

 The advantage of the low head is its economy of time. It saves 

 time in pruning and spraying, but most important of all, it saves 

 time in harvesting. A picker can harvest from 50 to 100 per 

 cent more fruit in a given length of time when no ladder is 

 needed. 



FIG. 337. -VIEW IN A 25-YEAR-OLD PEACH ORCHARD IN NIAGARA 

 COUNTY. ALTHOUGH THRIFTY, THE TREES ARE so HIGH THAT 

 HARVESTING is EXPENSIVE 



The period during which cultivation can be done extends over 

 several weeks, while harvesting must be accomplished in a few 

 days; sometimes it is a matter of a few hours. The low-headed 

 tree must be accepted in western New York as a matter of econ- 

 omy.* 



VARIETIES 



The commercial peach of western New York is the Elberta. 

 Considerably over one-half of the planting is of this variety. 

 Xcxt in importance is the Early Crawford. This is a favorite in 

 the older orchards, but because it is not prolific on all soils, it is 



* See article on pruning the peach, by Professor M. A. Blake, p. 1084. 



