LOCATIONS FOR THE PEACH 241 



edges of the Sacramento Valley have produced the earliest fruit for 

 a long series of years. Recently the contest for the earliest fruit 

 of these districts, with the foothill district on the east side of the 

 Sacramento Valley and special locations in the upper San Joaquin 

 Valley, has been quite close. 



In the coast valleys, opening upon San Francisco Bay and the 

 Pacific Ocean, the peach is also a leading fruit. Its success is great- 

 est, however, where good shelter is had from direct coast influences. 

 Even where open to these influences, good peaches can be grown by 

 choosing the smaller range of varieties, which do well by protecting 

 the trees from harsh winds, and by seeking elevation above de- 

 pressed valleys, whose frosts are frequent. The occurrence of curl- 

 leaf is a factor of much importance, which will be considered pres- 

 ently. In the coast counties north of the Russian River Valley the 

 danger to the peach from unfavorable atmospheric conditions in- 

 crease as one goes northward, and situations must be chosen with 

 greater care. And yet by such exercise of care, peaches for home 

 use and local markets can be successfully grown. 



South of San Francisco Bay the coast influences soften as you 

 proceed southward, and the peach draws nearer to the ocean, choos- 

 ing, however, elevations and avoiding broad, wind-swept areas and 

 narrow defiles where drafts and fogs are frequent. At considerable 

 elevations, as on the Santa Cruz Mountains, some varieties of 

 peaches are notably excellent. The general rule holds with the peach, 

 as with other fruits, that coast influences retard ripening and the* 

 season of the fruit is late. 



In some valleys and at elevations in Southern California the 

 peach is largely grown and high excellence attained while on the 

 mesas and plains there is often too high a temperature which starts 

 growth out of season and follows with a dormacy and die-back when 

 the tree ought to be most active. It has recently been demon- 

 strated that varieties like Luken's Honey, descended from the Peen- 

 to or flat peach of China, resists such irregularities better than the 

 common sorts which are largely of Persian origin. 



SOILS AND EXPOSURES FOR THE PEACH 



Though the suitability of soils for the peach can be somewhat 

 extended by the choice of stock for budding upon, as will be con- 

 sidered presently, its range of soils is narrower than that of the 

 apricot. The best peach soils are light, deep, sandy loams, rather 

 dry than moist, but under all circumstances well drained. It will 

 thrive on land with a considerable mixture of coarse sand or gravel, 

 providing it contains also needed elements of fertility ; for the rapid 

 growth and heavy fruitage of the peach requires abundant nutrition. 

 Though it accepts coarse materials both in soil and subsoil, it 

 relishes fine sediment and perhaps finds no more congenial location 

 than in the deep, sandy loam, or sedimentary deposit bordering the 

 creek beds of our warm valleys, and will send its roots deep to 

 secure long life and abundant fruitage. Such soils, whether along 



