26 PEACH CtJLTUKE. 



On the Pacific coast, the Peach, like almost every other 

 fruit, finds a congenial home, and is extensively culti- 

 vated even as far north as Oregon. But California, that 

 wonderful land of surpassing richness, not only in gold 

 and silver, and precious stones, but in silk, wheat and 

 wine, and oranges, and pomegranates, and apples, and 

 pears, also produces peaches in large and increasing quan- 

 tities. Here the peach comes in much sooner than is 

 known elsewhere ; it is even asserted that a seed, planted 

 at the proper season, will produce fruit in eighteen months, 

 while the ordinary time is no more than two years. 



Until recently its cultivation has received but little 

 attention. The want of a near and profitable market, the 

 perishable nature of the fruit itself, the superior keeping 

 qualities of others; the leading interest of the mines, and 

 the high price of labor, naturally and necessarily retarded 

 Peach Culture. But now, since the introduction of 

 Chinese labor, the completion of the Pacific railroad, the 

 reduction of the profits of wine making, grain growing, 

 and mining, a new impetus has been given to this beauti- 

 ful and generally profitable branch of industry, and it is 

 likely soon to become an important, though not a leading 

 interest. For, although the productive capacity is almost 

 unlimited, the market is confined to home consumption 

 and a few points in the interior along the line of the rail- 

 road. And while apples, oranges, grapes, and even pears 

 may be shipped to eastern markets, the peach never can, 

 until some new method of preserving its freshness has 

 been discovered. 



This obstacle to its extended cultivation may, to some 

 extent at least, be obviated by canning the fruit; and, if 

 new markets could be made in South America, China 

 and Japan for this American luxury, the business might 

 become very profitable. 



Notwithstanding, however, all counteracting influence, 

 the soil and climate are so conducive that large quantities 



