2494 



PEACH 



PEACH 



or types have been collected in China by Frank N. 

 Meyer, of the Department of Agriculture, and sent to 

 the United States for propagation and study. See the 

 article Prunus. 



The common types of peaches have been grouped 

 into certain races. Onderdonk (Kept. Commr. Agric., 



2787. Crawford peach. ( X \i) 



1887) and also Price have placed North American 

 peaches in five groups: (1) The Peen-to or flat 

 peach race, comprising the variety known as Peen-to 

 (Fig. 2784), and also the Angel, and Waldo; (2) the 

 South China race, with oval long-pointed fruit with 

 deep suture near the base, represented by the Honey 

 (Fig. 2785); (3) the Spanish or Indian race, with very 

 late yellow firm often streaked fruit, represented 

 by various southern varieties, as the Cabler (Fig. 2786), 

 Columbia, Galyeston, Lulu, Texas, and Victoria; (4) 

 the. North China race, with large mostly cling or 

 semi-cling fruit and very large flat leaves, represented 

 by the Greensboro, Waddell, and Carman; (5) the 

 Persian race, including the common varieties of the 

 mid-country and the North, as Crawford (Fig. 2787), 

 Mountain Rose, and the like. The so-called North 

 China and Persian types of peaches are now very much 

 mixed in commerical varieties. 



We have been content to say that Elberta (Fig. 

 2788) is of the North China type, when it is plainly 

 mixed with the Persian, and when studied carefully its 

 characters resemble the Persian type even more than 

 they do the North China. Two types of peach blos- 

 soms are commonly recognized (as shown in Fig. 2790), 

 yet there are three distinct types, the large bloom, 

 typical of Greensboro and Waddell and the North 

 China type, the medium bloom of such varieties as 

 Elberta and Belle, and the small bloom of Early and 

 Late Crawford, and others. The botanical significance 

 of these types is not well understood. 



A double-flowered peach (Fig. 2789) is sometimes 

 cultivated as an ornamental, as well as a purple-leaved 

 form. A form- of the cultiyated peach growing wild 

 near Pekin, large-flowered, is shown in Fig. 2791. 



Propagation. 



The peach is universally propagated by means of 

 the pits or seeds. A few are sometimes secured by 

 budding upon plum or even cherry stocks, but this 

 dwarfs the tree and makes it susceptible to various 

 stock troubles. 



So-called natural seedling pits or seeds gathered in 

 Tennessee and North Carolina are said to be the best 

 for propagation work. Such seeds are considered to 

 be more viable and to produce hardier stock than pits 

 from cultivated varieties. Considerable quantities 

 of so-called "seedling" seeds have undoubtedly been 

 secured from canning factories and represent commer- 

 cial varieties, although one can readily detect the dif- 

 ference between them. It has not been definitely 

 shown that wild seedling pits will produce a stock that 

 is any more hardy than that which might be secured 

 from the pits of some of our hardier cultivated varie- 



ties. Seeds or pits for propagation are treated in two 

 ways. Where severe freezing weather occurs they are 

 commonly planted in the autumn in nursery rows 

 from 4 to 6 feet apart. The pits are scattered a few 

 inches apart in the rows and covered to a depth of 

 about 2 inches. In less severe climates, the pits are 

 stratified very shallow in autumn, are dug up in the 

 spring and the kernels separated from the soil and 

 shells, and planted in nursery rows. By this method, 

 any pit or seed which is not cracked open by the 

 action of the frost may be broken by the use of a 

 hammer. Pits not affected by the frost usually fail 

 to grow the first season, but may do so the second 

 year. 



The pits should be planted in good soil and be 

 given careful cultivation so that the seedlings will be at 

 least 24 to 30 inches high by the latter part of August 

 of the first season, and in condition for budding. The 

 buds are inserted the latter part of August or early in 

 September, and simply become united with the seedling 

 stock without making any growth. Early the following 

 spring the seedlings are cut back just above the inserted 

 buds, and all shoots developing from buds of the stock 

 itself are kept rubbed off. In this way the desired bud 

 develops into a vigorous well-branched shoot or tree 

 which should be from 3 to 6 feet high at the close of 

 the season's growth, and is ready for sale that fall or 

 the following spring. So-called "June buds" are 

 secured by budding vigorous seedlings in June and 

 selling the resulting trees in the fall or the spring fol- 

 lowing. Such trees are smaller and are seldom equal 

 to one-year-old trees except possibly for planting in 

 the South. In Fig. 2792, at the left, is a well-branched 

 one-year-old nursery tree; at the right a slender tree 

 of the same age and height, and in the center a June 

 bud. 



The question as to whether trees should be propa- 

 gated north of the region in which they are grown is a 

 common one. Evidence has shown that it makes little 

 difference as to the latitude in which the trees are raised 

 if they are well grown and are free from injurious 



2788. Elberta peach. ( X nearly 



insects and diseases. It is generally best, however, 

 to purchase trees as near at hand as good ones may be 

 secured. 



The ideal climate for the peach is one in which the 

 winter extremes do not go much lower than zero at 

 any time, and no warm periods of many days' duration 

 occur in winter. The absence of late spring frosts and 

 presence of bright sun during the ripening period are 

 also important essentials. Extremes of either warmth 

 or cold in winter are almost equally detrimental. 



