PRUNING. 457 



Situations near the banks of large rivers and inland lakes are 

 equally admirable on this account, and in the garden where we 

 write, on the banks of the Hudson, the blossoms are not injured 

 once in a dozen years, while on level grounds only five miles 

 in the interiour, they are destroyed every fourth or fifth season. 



With regard to the culture of peach orchards, there is a 

 seeming disparity of opinion between growers at the north and 

 south. Most of the cultivators at the south say, never plough 

 or cultivate an orchard after it has borne the first crop. Plough- 

 ing bruises the roots, enfeebles the tree, and lessens the crop. 

 Enrich the ground by top-dressings, and leave it in a state of 

 rest. The best northern growers say, always keep the land in 

 good condition, mellow and loose by cultivation, and crop it 

 very frequently with the lighter root and field crops. Both 

 are correct, and it is not difficult to explain the seeming differ- 

 ence of opinion. 



The majority of the peach orchards south of Philadelphia, it 

 will be recollected, grow upon a thin, light soil, previously rather 

 impoverished. In such soils, it is necessarily the case, that 

 the roots lie near the surface, and most of the food derived by 

 them is from what is applied to the surface, or added to the soil. 

 Ploughing therefore, in such soils, wounds and injures the roots, 

 and cropping the ground takes from it the scanty food annually 

 applied or already in the soil, which is not more than sufficient 

 for the orchard alone. In a stronger and deeper soil, the roots 

 of the peach tree penetrate farther, and are, mostly, out of the 

 reach of serious injury by the plough. Instead of losing by 

 being opened and exposed to the air, the heavier soil gains 

 greatly in value by the very act of rendering it more friable, 

 while at the same time it has naturally sufficient heart to bear 

 judicious cropping with advantage, rather than injury, to the 

 trees. The growth and luxuriance of an orchard in strong 

 land, kept under tillage, is surprisingly greater than the same 

 allowed to remain in sod. The difference in treatment there- 

 fore, should always adapt itself to the nature of the soil. In or- 

 dinary cases, the duration of peach orchards in the light sandy 

 soil is rarely more than three years in a bearing state. In a 

 stronger soil, with proper attention to the shortening system of 

 pruning, it may be prolonged to twenty or more years. 



PRUNING. It has always been the prevailing doctrine in this 

 country that the peach requires no pruning. It has been allow- 

 ed to grow, to bear heavy crops, and to die, pretty much in its 

 own way. This is very well for a tree in its native climate, 

 and in a wild state, but it must be remembered that the peach 

 comes from a warmer country than ours, and that our peaches 

 of the present day are artificial varieties. They owe their 

 origin to artificial means, and require therefore, a system of 

 culture to correspond. 



