leaf damage and heavy leaf drop but Dr. L. Edgerton in New York 

 has included ProGibb* in the spray with ethephon and eliminated 

 most of this damage. 



In the absence of a chemical thinner, some limb shakers, a 

 few full tree shakers, clubs and whiffle bats are used to thin 

 the fruit, plus much hand removal. Thinning is a most important 

 cultural practice. Size is so very important in the wholesale 

 market and frequently, 1/8" increase in peach size will return an 

 additional $1.00 per 38 lb. box. Twice as many 2" peaches are 

 required to equal weight of 2-1/2" peaches. Peaches gain 41 a day 

 in volume as they approach harvest. 



Pruning for Low Profile Trees . flost trees in New Jersey orchards 

 are being pruned to maintain a height of 7 to 8 feet. This makes 

 possible the pruning, thinning and harvesting without ladders. 

 Machine topping is extensive mainly with sickle bar mowers. Mowing 

 is done in the dormant season on most acreage but more and more 

 summer mowing is being done in orchards where tree and row spacing 

 permits. Summer mowing is usually done between July 15 and August 1. 

 There are several good reasons for summer mowing in addition to 

 accomplishing some pruning: more sunlight enters the tree, fruit 

 ripens more evenly and with less pickings, fruit color is improved 

 and better fruiting wood develops in the center of the tree. 



Hand pruning is essential to complete any machine pruning to 

 maintain good tree vigor and the best fruiting shoots throughout. 

 Pneumatic pruners are used to some extent and custom pruning is 

 done on a sizeable acreage. There is room for improvement in the 

 pruning of much of the acreage but it's a time consuming, costly 

 job and too few people are willing or able to do the job properly, 

 so less than satisfactory pruning must be accepted. 



Irrigat ion . Most peach orchards are equipped with some kind of 

 irrigation and during some time each year in late spring and summer 

 the irrigation is usually needed. 



Tricke irrigation is established on perhaps 10 farms with capa- 

 cities ranging from 50 to 100 acres per farm. There is no strong 

 movement into trickle because of other equipment still in use and 

 the cost of establishing trickle. Irrigation is a very necessary 

 cultural requirement in peach growing. 



Chemical Weed Control . Some orchards are grown in an established 

 sod, usually fescue, with chemical weed control in the tree row. 

 More of the orchards, especially in southern New Jersey, are culti- 

 vated with chemical weed control in the tree rows. Herbicides used 

 for annual weeds include simazine, terbacil, diuron and a combination 

 of diuron + terbacil. For established weeds, paraquat and dichlo- 

 benil are recommended. 



"35 



Trade name 



