46 THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



rily stronger, hardier or healthier than that from 

 the budded tree never was anything much but super- 

 stition. 



The peach pits are bought in autumn and should 

 be clean and dry when received. Customary prac- 

 tice, at least among small growers, is to bury them 

 in a moist, well-drained soil for the winter. They 

 are placed in holes of any convenient size dug in the 

 ground and covered with 4 to 6 inches of earth. The 

 soil should be of such a character as to keep the pits 

 moist, and the locality should be such as to prevent 

 water draining into the hole and covering the pits 

 during the winter. The seeds will freeze and thaw 

 more or less during the winter. This has the im- 

 portant advantage of cracking the hard shells and 

 assisting materially in the germination. 



The pits are dug up at potato planting time in the 

 spring, are sifted out of the soil and should then be 

 immediately planted. In case the pits are not 

 frozen, and so have not been cracked or softened, 

 they may be gently cracked with a hammer before 

 planting. This treatment, if carefully given, will 

 greatly increase the percentage and evenness of the 

 stand, but it is, of course, a slow and expensive job. 

 Freezing is sometimes said to be necessary to 

 germination, but this is not the fact. 



The seeds are planted in drills 3 to 3^2 feet apart 

 so as to allow for horse cultivation. They are placed 

 in the rows from 2 to 4 inches apart. They should 

 germinate promptly and give a good even stand. 

 The soil should be thoroughly and evenly worked 

 and a liberal amount of fertilizer used. Indeed, the 

 soil should be enriched before the seeds are planted. 

 Applications of nitrate of soda between the rows 

 during the early part of the summer will often be 

 advantageous. It is of the greatest importance to 



