120 



PEACH CULTURE. 



These estimates are made on the basis of good land and 

 good tillage. In the absence of either or both, the profits 

 will be much reduced ; while by extra culture, skill, and 

 care in gathering the fruit at the proper time, and send- 

 ing it to the best market, they may be increased, but in 

 the present state of cultivation and markets, they are 

 about the average. 



Hence it follows, that land which will yield forty dol- 

 lars an acre,^?e/* annum, should not be planted in peaches. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



CULTURE AFTER A CROP. 



THE culture after a crop should be prompt, careful and 

 generous. A first class orchard of a hundred acres may 

 have netted its owner ten thousand dollars in a single sea- 

 son. But say it is only six thousand, or even five, and 

 ! he can still afford to return to the soil that has been so 

 productive a considerable portion of this, and have a 

 handsome sum left. The liberal and intelligent planter 

 will do so cheerfully, and thus not only improve greatly 

 the appearance of his trees, but also do much towards in- 

 suring a crop the next year; while the niggardly and 

 short-sighted, will pocket all the present gains and leave 

 his trees to take care of themselves or starve. Good cul- 

 ture will pay as well with peaches as any thing else ; and 

 the old proverb : " Alwnys taking out of the meal tub, 

 and never putting any thing in, you will soon come to the 

 bottom," is as applicable to them as to the family flour- 

 chest. 



As soon as the last peach is gathered, the hogs should 

 be turned in to eat up the refuse. Two purposes will be 



