CHAPTEE XLVI. 

 PEACHES, PLUMS AND CHERRIES. 



The so-called "stone" fruits all require nearly the same treatment The 

 peach, being a short lived tree, needs constant and regular cultivation annu- 

 ally during the whole term of its existence. But, as in the case with young 

 apple trees this cultivation should not be continued too late in the season, 

 and some cover crop should be sown to protect the soil during the winter 

 and to be turned under in the spring for the benefit of the trees. In the 

 peach growing region of Delaware and Eastern Maryland it has become a 

 common practice to sow the orchard in crimson clover in July, at the close 

 of cultivation, and to plow it all under in the spring. 



PLANTING A PEACH ORCHARD. 



Peach trees should always be but one year old from the bud when set. 

 In the South the planting can be best done in the fall, at any time after the 

 leaves fall up to Christmas, but in cold latitudes the planting should be 

 deferred till spring. We always prune the roots of a peach tree rather closely, 

 leaving only the stout roots five or six inches long, as the small fibres will 

 all be dry and worthless in any event and the young roots put out more rap- 

 idly from a clean cut surface. We are not yet ready to adopt the plan recom- 

 mended by Mr. Stringfellow, of Texas, to cut off the roots to a mere stub 

 and set the trees in holes made with a crowbar, in sod land, though trees thus 

 treated will live and grow. We prefer to dig a moderate sized hole, no deeper 

 than the plowing has been, and then to ram the soil tightly to the pruned 

 roots. After planting, we trim off all side shoots closely, and then head back 

 the main stem to about twenty inches from the ground. In the Spring, when 

 growth begins, we select the best situated buds, three or four, near the top, 

 to form the head, and rub off all others. During the summer we watch the 

 young shoots and if one limb is inclined to grow too fast for its fellows, and 

 thus form a one-sided head, we pinch its tip and check it. 



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