FERTILIZING PEACHES 



tain .27 per cent of nitrogen, .07 per cent of phosphoric 

 acid and .08 per cent of potash. The leaves contain .9 per 

 cent of nitrogen, .15 per cent of phosphoric acid and .6 per 

 cent of potash. The new wood contains .43 per cent of nitro- 

 gen, .11 per cent of phosphoric acid and .22 per cent of 

 potash. 



Thus it appears that the trees make a considerable de- 

 mand on the three essential elements of plant food which 

 the farmer is ordinarily called upon to supply to his soil. 

 Of course, it is understood by the orchardist that it takes 

 something like fourteen elements to supply the needs of his 

 trees, but ordinarily, with the exception of nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, and potash, and sometimes lime, all of the other 

 ten or eleven are found in the soil in sufficient abundance 

 to be disregarded from a practical point of view. The analy- 

 ses quoted above show that peaches require a much larger 

 per cent of potash for their perfection than is usually 

 considered necessary, and while the phosphoric acid is also 

 shown to be essential, the smaller amount required leads us 

 to conclude that the soil will more often supply this mineral 

 constituent in sufficient quantities than it will the potash. 



Soils Adapted to the Peach 



While the peach is adapted to growth on quite a variety 

 of soils, it gives best results on loose sandy loams, which are 

 well drained. If the soils are rich so much the better, pro- 

 six 



