PEACH 



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PEACH 



the world; there the peach is second in im- 

 portance, among orchard fruits, only to the 

 apple. The peach tree, however, is not native 

 :'h America, but to Asia; it* supremacy 

 as a Western world plant is due both to im- 

 proved methods of culture and to adaptability 

 of soil and climate. The tree belongs to the 

 roee family. 



Distribution and Production. Though not so 



hardy a fruit as the apple, the peach is grown 



-fully in certain sections of Canada, 



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Figures Represent Millions of Bushels 

 THE CROP 



The production indicated above represents the 

 average yearly yield for a. period of five years. 



notably in Ontario. In the United States its 

 : ibution is wide, but somewhat irregular, as 

 it is very sensitive to frosts. It flourishes along 

 the eastern and southern shores of the Great 

 Lakes, where the climate is tempered by near- 

 ness to those large bodies of water; orchards 

 are found in the eastern tier of states from 

 Connecticut to Georgia; in the northern part 

 of Florida there are several "peach-growing 

 - ; and the fruit is cultivated extensively in 

 various sections of the Mi.<sis>ippi Valley and 

 in California. Such a summary is, of course, 

 very general, and does not indicate that the 

 fruit is grown to a greater or less extent in at 

 least forty of the states. Probably the peaches 

 of Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and Michigan 

 are the most widely known. 



The accompanying charts show the average 

 annual yield of the leading peach states. 

 Though Maryland and Delaware (.which do not 

 appear on the chart) are famous for their 

 peaches, their output is comparatively limited 

 because of the size of the states. Delaware 



raided 812,000 bushels in 1915, and Maryland 

 1,248,000, both figures showing a marked in- 

 N over previous years. The average an- 

 nual yield for the entire United States is about 

 4o.500.000 bushels. In the period from 1910 to 

 1915, the farm price per bushel varied between 

 $1.36 and 81 cents. 



Classes and Varieties. The familiar division 

 of pearlies into clingstone and freestone groups 

 is not wholly satisfactory, as there is no hard 

 and fast distinction between these two classes. 

 About 300 varieties have been developed by 

 American horticulturists, which may be grouped 

 as follows: 



(This classification, compiled by Professor R. 

 H. ' Price, of the Texas Experiment Station, is 

 accepted as standard in its essential fi-atures. 

 and all later classifications are based upon it.) 



(1) Peen-to, a medium-sized fruit flattened 

 endwise, having: a sweet but peculiar flavor ; color 

 of skin, white mottled with red; grown usually 

 in the southern range of the peach area. 



(2) South China, a small oval fruit, somewhat 

 flattened. 



(3) Spanish,, or Indian, a late fruit, generally 

 yellow, with a hairy skin. 



(4) North China, a large, oval fruit. 



(5) Persian, including most of the large yellow 

 or white-fleshed varieties cultivated in the north- 

 ern part of the United States. 



Among the best-known commercial varieties 

 of the fruit are the Elberta, the most popular 

 peach in America; the Belle of Georgia and the 

 Crawford. The nectarine (which see) is really 

 a variety of peach, but is sometimes considered 

 a separate species because its smooth skin 

 lacks the downy fuzz characteristic of a true 

 peach. 



Culture. Fruit growers obtain trees for the 

 orchard from nurserymen, who propagate the 

 plant from seeds. As the seeds do not, as a 

 rule, produce plants of their own type, desired 

 varieties are obtained by budding the seedlings, 

 a process explained in these volumes in tin- 

 article GRAFTING, subhead Bud Grafting. In 

 the South, trees budded in June are sometimes 

 transplanted to the orchard the following fall, 

 but in the North it is customary to permit the 

 young tree to grow a season before taking it 

 up ; that is, to transplant it when it is one year 

 old. The trees are set from eighteen to twenty 

 feet apart each way, as compared with thirty 

 to thirty-five for apple trees, which are some- 

 what larger. 



Peach trees grow to a height of from fifteen 

 to twenty feet, and bear long, slender leaves 

 and lovely, delicate pink blossoms. They begin 

 to bear fruit about the third year after trans- 



