310 



are common. As the land cannot be ploughed in the 

 spring, there will be much extra expense in cultivation. 



Peaches require a sandy loam. A fine sand should be 

 preferred, for if they be on a very dry, porous soil, they 

 will suffer with the drought. If the soil be moist, the fruit 

 will be later, of inferior quality, and the wood will grow 

 later of course it will 'not ripen so as to endure the cold 

 of winter. 



Moderate elevations afford advantages, as in low lands 

 there is more danger from late frosts in the spring, and 

 in such situations the frosts of winter are more severe ; 

 and as the sun has more power in low plains, provided 

 the soil be dry, the trees will blossom the earlier, which 

 is a serious disadvantage, as cold weather often succeeds. 



On high situations there is more exposure to the winds, 

 and less heat to perfect the fruit; yet in such places 

 peaches often succeed. An eastern exposure is consid- 

 ered most unfavorable. High cultivation is necessary to 

 productiveness and fine fruit. 



MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS. 



Before the ground freezes in autumn, dig the earth five 

 or six inches deep around the fruit trees, and the distance 

 of eight or ten inches from each ; remove it to a suitable 

 place and burn it with dry brush, or whatever combusti- 

 ble is convenient, to destroy the germ of the canker-worm 

 and other hurtful insects. Mix this burnt earth with lime 

 or ashes, and a double crop may be expected next season. 

 If any farmer or gardener thinks this too much labor, let 

 him remember, that there is nothing good under the sun 

 obtained without some expense, and that everything in 

 nature has its price. Choice fruit is among the greatest 

 luxuries of the earth, but cannot be obtained without par- 

 ticular attention to the cultivation of the orchard. 



