('i I.TIKAL MKTIIOOS FOR THK PEACH, AND MARKETING 1081 



the hark, they in;iy he hooked out with a wire. Up to the present 

 time, anti-borer preparations have* killed more trees than they have 

 eaved. 



CARK WIIK.X KIM ITI\(i 



I'nder favorable conditions, when the orchard is four years 

 old, there should be a crop of fruit. The cover crop should be 

 plowed under early, care being taken not to plow too deeply near 

 the tree and so to injure the main roots. 



Here, good judgment must be used in regard to fertilizers and 

 cultivation, or a rank, sappy tree will be formed. Such a tree 

 is liable to winter injury. With the present unsettled condition 

 in the fertilizer market, it is hard, to say what to use. Most fertil- 

 izers are high in price and potash is unobtainable, so that now as 

 never before we should be sure before we go ahead. If an expe- 

 rienced grower, one may use what has given good results in the 

 past ; if without previous experience, use various combinations 

 and note results. An excess of nitrogen will make large, poorly- 

 colored fruit, and fruit that is unsatisfactory for shipping. 



HARVESTING 



Picking is generally done in half-bushel baskets, and the fruit 

 is hauled into the packing shed in spring wagons. The trees 

 should be picked over several times, the best colored and ripest 

 fruit being taken off at each picking. Elbertas are generally 

 < leaned at two or three pickings, while some varieties, such as 

 ( '1 lampions, may require twice as many, as the fruit ripens so 

 unevenly. Much skill is required to pick peaches at just the 

 proper time, and the beginner would be wise in following the 

 better growers to know just when to pick the various varieties. 



In the packing shed the fruit must be handled quickly and care- 

 ful ly, and each day's picking should be on the way to market by 

 night. The various grades and sizes are determined by the market 

 for which the fruit is intended. Various mechanical graders are 

 used, but as a rule these are not satisfactory, except where fruit is 

 picked while very hard. Great care must be used in all packing 

 operations to see that the fruit is not bruised. The packed fruit 

 >li<nild be hauled to market or railroad station on spring wagons. 



The first and most important point in packing fruit is common, 



