44 



be adverse to peach growing, an orchardist is meeting with 

 success, and in several other towns in different parts of the 

 state the frnit is being successfully grown. 



In a recent number of the New England Farm Magazine 

 was a sketch of my methods, etc. In consequence of which 

 I have received many letters of inquiry from men in our 

 state and from other states also, who were surprised that 

 New Hampshire could produce such peaches, and asking if 

 I supposed they could grow peaches in their town. No one 

 ever tried — some said it was considered too cold. This 

 shows that farmers have lacked courage and confidence to 

 break away from the old traditions. "It was good enough 

 for father — it is good enough for me." They seem to be 

 waiting for "bacteria," as it were, or a starter— someone 

 with a will-power to lead off. Take for illustration, spray- 

 ing. It took twelve years to convince all the apple growers 

 in our section that it paid to spray the orchards. 



While New Hampshire may not ever be as important 

 a peach state as Massachusetts has been, yet, I believe there 

 are sections yet undeveloped where the orchardist will suc- 

 ceed who goes at it with the determination that he will prop- 

 erly care for the trees and study the needs as he would in 

 any other line of business. We surely have some of the best 

 markets here in New England, with only short distances of 

 transit by rail, and much of our fruit comes m direct com- 

 petition with that grown outside our state, yet our product 

 meets a ready market at very satisfactory prices. 



In selecting a site for the orchard, one of the most im- 

 portant considerations is elevation. We nuist get back to 

 the hills to escape the late spring and early fall frosts, for 

 good air drainage is as essential as land drainage for the 

 trees. Extreme steady cold weather is not always so harm- 

 ful as sudden changes — trees are apt to have their buds de- 

 stroyed by a sudden low temperature when preceded by a 

 week or so of warm weather in mid-winter so as to swell 

 their buds. On a farm one-half mile below us, is an orchard 

 that last year did not have a peach — all because it was at 

 the base of the hill. 



I do not consider any of our land too good for orchard- 

 ing when the returns are compared with other crops or 

 branches of farming, as, for instance, the milk business as 

 it has been conducted during the past fifteen or twenty 

 years. In my ease, I took the best fields first, planting the 



