2500 



PEACH 



PEACH 



with self-boiled lime-sulfur will commonly hold it in 

 check. 



Spraying. 



The peach is subject to the attacks of numerous 

 disease and insect enemies, and thorough spraying is 

 required for success in most cases. The peach foli- 

 age is very sensitive to caustic sprays, however, and 



2800. Young peach trees pruned, one of them headed back. 



great damage may be done from ignorance. Copper 

 sprays, such as bordeaux, are dangerous to use on 

 peach foliage in humid climates. San Jose" scale and 

 leaf-curl can be controlled by a winter spraying of 

 lime-sulfur. Peach-scab and brown-rot can be held in 

 check by several sprayings of the self-boiled lime- 

 sulfur summer spray. 



When San Jose 1 scale, leaf-curl, peach-scab, brown- 

 rot and curculio appear to any considerable extent, 

 the following spraying schedule is suggested: 



1. For scale and leaf-curl, apply concentrated lime- 

 sulfur diluted to a specific gravity of 1.03 to 1.04 before 

 the leaf-buds start to make growth in early spring. 



2. Just after the petals fall, apply self-boiled lime- 

 sulfur of an 8-8-50 formula and arsenate of lead at 

 the rate of three pounds of paste, or one and one- 

 half pounds of powdered lead to each fifty gallons 

 of spray. 



3. Repeat this when the calyces are shedding from 

 the fruits or when the latter are about the size of 

 green peas. 



4. Apply self-boiled lime-sulfur without the addition 

 of arsenate of lead three weeks after the third spraying. 



5. Apply self-boiled lime-sulfur again three weeks 

 later to all varieties ripening later than Carman. 



6. In wet seasons and especially for varieties as late 

 as Fox, Salway, or Bilyeu, an additional spraying may 

 prove profitable. 



No spraying should be done within less than three 

 weeks of the ripe stage, or the fruit may have a white- 

 washed appearance. 



Where the plum-curculio causes little or no damage, 

 the second spraying may be omitted, and where peach- 

 scab and brown-rot are uncommon, the fourth, fifth, 

 and sixth sprayings may be omitted. 



Winter injuries. 



There are several forms of winter injury, including 

 bud-killing, twig-killing, collar injury and bark-split- 

 ting. Bud-killing takes place when the temperature is 

 too severe in winter. The pistils and stamens are 

 killed in their rudimentary state, giving the center of 

 the bud a brown or black appearance when a cross- 

 section is made. Poorly formed buds often die even 



when the winter temperatures are not particularly 

 severe. Alternate warm and cold periods may also 

 result in bud-killing. Varieties such as Reeves, Early 

 Crawford, and Mountain Rose suffer more from bud- 

 killing than Greensboro, Carman, or Crosby. Vigorous 

 trees that ripen their wood-growth early are best able 

 to withstand low temperatures successfully. Trees 

 that make a relatively late growth are, however, more 

 successful in resisting the effects of a variable winter. 



Twig-killing is a more severe form of injury than bud- 

 killing, and following such injury the trees should be 

 well cut back before growth begins. 



Collar injury is caused by the action of the weather 

 upon the bark of the trunk just at or below the sur- 

 face of the ground. In mild cases, the inner bark 

 becomes yellow in color and very spongy. The tree 

 is checked in growth and the fruit forced to an unusually 

 large size. The lenticels or dots are large and the flavor 

 of the fruit is often astringent, due to a large propor- 

 tion of tannin. In more severe cases of injury, the trees 

 suddenly die in midsummer with the shriveled fruit 

 clinging to the twigs. Bark-beetles often attack trees 

 checked by winter injury and the death of the trees is 

 often entirely attributed to their attacks. The Elberta 

 appears to be more susceptible to this form of winter 

 injury than such varieties as Greensboro or Carman. 

 The soil should be firmly mounded up for about a foot 

 against the trunks of peach trees just before freezing 

 weather each fall to prevent such winter injury. 



The bark on the trunks of old peach trees may 

 occasionally crack open as a result of winter weather. 

 The most that can be done is to cut away the bark that 

 has separated from the sap-wood and to paint the latter 

 to prevent decay. 



Peach trees not infrequently suffer injury to the 

 sap-wood of the branches and twigs, and the trees may 

 fail to grow vigorously the following spring. Such trees 

 should be given liberal fertilizing and be kept well 

 cultivated to promote a good growth. M. A. BLAKE. 



Peach-culture in the South. 



Peaches have been abundant in the southern states 

 since the very earliest settlement, the so-called Spanish 

 varieties being first distributed by the early settlers 

 in Florida, and to this day, all through the South 

 Atlantic States, the old "Spanish Blood" or "Tinsley" 

 peach, is spoken of as one of the choice fruits of the 

 earth. From time to time all the improved varieties 

 were scattered through the South by the more progres- 

 sive horticulturists and nurserymen and these and 

 their seedlings were abundant on nearly every planta- 

 tion. The South being strictly an agricultural country, 

 there was little chance for commercial peach-culture 

 until along between 1870 and 1875, when the introduc- 

 tion of a number of new extra-early varieties of the 

 Alexander type, seedlings of Hale and Rivers, gave such 

 bright showy peaches the latter part of May and early 

 June that attempts were made to market them at a 

 profit in our northern cities. 



A lack of quick through railway-express service 

 caused them to be three and four days on the way, and 

 usually to be delivered in poor condition. Occasional 

 lots, arriving in fair to good condition and selling at 

 $12 to $20 a bushel, convinced a few of the shippers that 

 the extra-early peaches of the South were appreciated 

 at the North, and persistent efforts were continued to 

 get them to market in sound condition. Every con- 

 ceivable style of shipping package was used, paper- 

 wrapped fruit placed between layers of cotton, excelsior, 

 paper, and the like, and sent by express or steamer, 

 and all brought about the same returns, "Arrived in 

 bad order." Only occasional lots paid a profit. Finally, 

 heavy refrigerator boxes that would hold about six bush- 

 els of fruit in packages, and a sufficient quantity of ice, 

 with strong castor wheels under them so they could 



