70 PEACH CtTLTUBE. 



case of peaches. The peach is a tender and delicate fruit, 

 ripens almost in a day and perishes in another, if not 

 eaten or preserved. It is exceedingly susceptible to at* 

 mospheric influences, and thousands of baskets have 

 perished on the trees in consequence of one warm wet 

 day. This was the case in Delaware, in 1867, when the 

 fruit rotted on the trees by car loads, for the want of dry 

 air and sunshine. 



Now it has been found that orchards near water are 

 more exposed to this danger than others. Hence, it is 

 difficult to say whether or not it is advisable to select a 

 site on the margin of a water. The advantages seem to 

 be nearly equally balanced ; and the preponderance will, 

 perhaps, be generally determined by other considera- 

 tions. In former years, sites on the north sides of hills 

 were considered best by many, inasmuch as the ground 

 remained frozen much longer in the spring, thus retarding 

 the blooming of the blossoms until after severe frosts, 

 which it undoubtedly did. But closer and longer experi- 

 ence and observation have satisfied planters that there is 

 more danger from winter killing, while the germ is her- 

 metically folded in its flower leaves, than from spring 

 frosts. Hence, that it is more important to obtain a 

 shelter from the northern blasts of winter, than from the 

 late frosts of spring. 



SOIL. 



THE character of the soil must not be overlooked. 

 Much will depend upon this, in general, but especially in 

 the culture and growth of the young trees. After the 

 orchard is established and in bearing, the difference will 

 not be so material. Along the whole Delaware Peninsula, 

 from Cape Charles, on the south, to the Delaware and 

 Chesapeake Canal on the north, the soil is so peculiarly 

 conducive to the production of the peach in all its rich 

 luxuriousness, that it is difficult to make a mistake in the 



