HORTICULTURE 215 



very late in ripening and does not color very well ; very productive 

 but the quality is only fair. Missouri Of the largest size and a good 

 quality. The earliest ripening variety ; moderately productive. Rea 

 (Mammoth) Very large; yellow; fine quality; vigorous, very pro- 

 ductive. A seedling of the Orange but a larger and finer quince than 

 that variety. (Mich. E. S. B. 27.) 



PEACH. 



There is so much intermingling of families among cultivated 

 peaches that they are difficult to separate. They, however, have 

 been classified in a general way, as follows: (a) The Peen-to group 

 or flat peaches, represented by the Peen-to variety and grown mostly 

 in the South. (6) The South China group, having long pointed 

 fruits with a deep suture near the base. Example, the Honey, (c) 

 The Spanish or Indian group, having very late yellow, firm, and 

 often streaked fruits; grown in the South. Examples are the Lulu 

 and Galveston. (d) The North China group, having very large 

 fruits and leaves and clingstone fruit. Represented by the Elberta 

 and Smock, (e) The Persian group, the common peach of the 

 North. This group includes the Crawford, Salway, Old Mixon, and 

 others. (U. S. E. S. B. 178.) 



PEACH REGIONS. 



The peach is very susceptible to spring frosts and very partial to 

 those situations where its buds will not start during warm winter 

 days to be killed by sudden freezes or frosts. For this reason it 

 thrives best where it is under the moderating influence of large bodies 

 of water. In the northern and eastern states the regions noted for 

 their evenness and mildness of winter temperatures are best for the 

 peach. These are chiefly close to the great lakes and to the sea coast. 

 Thus we find a great peach belt on the eastern shore of Lake Michi- 

 gan where the prevailing winds from the water moderate the climate 

 very much. Commercial orchards are extensive along lakes Erie and 

 Ontario. Along the Atlantic seaboard, the most noted peach areas 

 are in Connecticut and southward to Maryland's eastern shore. From 

 this middle seaboard region the peach thrives inland to the mountain 

 regions of West Virginia. Extensive orchards are also found in 

 Georgia and the northern part of Alabama, Eastern Texas, southern 

 parts of Kansas, Missouri and Illinois; and the milder parts of Cal- 

 ifornia and Oregon. The peach has its limits in latitude. North- 

 ward it does not pay well beyond 44 degrees and then only in the 

 vicinity of water as in Michigan and Oregon. Southward it is lim- 

 ited by the attacks of a root disease which in our latitude is killed in 

 winter by freezing. (W. Va. E. S. B. 82.) 



The peach districts of America are also outlined in Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 208 by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

 The peach is propagated as follows : (a) Seed. Some varieties of 

 the peach come so nearly true from seed that they are thus propa- 

 gated, but^ it is an uncommon method with commercial varieties. 

 (6) Budding is the common and almost the exclusive method in 

 practice in the North, (c) Grafting the peach is practiced in Cali- 

 fornia and in the South, (d) Peach seed must be stratified over 



