188 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



when the seedlings are very young. Seedlings from natural 

 fruit are preferred for stocks from sections where the peach 

 is healthy and free from yellows. A favorite place for ob- 

 taining peach seed is from Tennessee and Kentucky where the 

 peach grows in thickets. Plum stocks are sometimes preferred 

 for the peach where it is grown in heavy, moist soil but are 

 seldom used in commercial peach growing. 



Planting. The trees for planting out should be one year 

 old from budding, small but not weak. They should be trimmed 

 to a straight shoot one to three feet high and all side branches 

 removed at planting, making them appear as a mere whip 

 stick. This facilitates forming the head. It saves freight and 

 packing if they are to be shipped long distances, to have this 

 done before they are shipped. Trees more than one year old 

 are not desirable for orchard planting. At the North peach 

 trees should be set out in the spring. The distance apart will 



Fig. 88. Pruning peach trees, a. Before pruning, b. After pruning. 



