28 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



experimenting with a view to getting a variety that would be hardy 

 and vigorous in its immediate vicinity at least. 



A popular variety in the vicinity of Worcester and one that docs 

 very well is the INIountain Rose. The Greensboro is a very hardy 

 one and you are likely to get peaches from that tree when all others 

 fail. It is a clingstone. The past few years the Late Crawford 

 has been a profitable one to grow. The Crosby is a hardy peach 

 of good quality, but not as marketable as some. The Champion 

 is longer ripening than most of the others. It does not color quite 

 enough, but it is so vigorous and bears such large fruit that it is 

 worth trying. The Foster is similar to the Crawford. The Old- 

 mixon is a white peach and one of the standards of excellence. The 

 Elberta is a good peach to look at, is hardy and vigorous, good size, 

 and more of them are planted than any other. It sells well because 

 it is showy, but it is of poor quality. 



An important consideration in peach culture on a large scale is 

 the selection of a location, one not affected by late frost in the spring 

 or early frost in the fall, one where the buds will be the least likely 

 to start early in the spring. The influence of climatic and atmos- 

 pheric conditions has much to do with all vegetable growth, especially 

 peaches. Extreme cold is not as bad as extreme changes, especially 

 when w^et. Sometimes large ponds or rivers have a beneficial effect, 

 as well as elevations near the salt water. In all cases plant the trees 

 on elevated ground with a northerly or westerly slope. 



Forsoil the peach will adapt itself to almost any kind. The best 

 soil is a sandy loam rich in vegetable matter. It will do remarkably 

 well on stony soils. Very rich soils produce too much wood. The 

 peach does well on rocky or ledgy side hills that are almost worthless 

 for an}i:hing else. Land with much vegetable growi;h on it would 

 be benefited by a good dressing of lime before ploughing and another 

 before harrowing. I know of one orchard on gravelly knolls 

 where the wood had been cut off, the brush burnt, then holes dug 

 and trees planted. They are dug around every spring, fertilizer 

 applied, the brush cut twice a year and allowed to rot on the ground. 

 The trees do not make as much wood as some, but otherwise are 

 very satisfactory. 



For manures use a dressing of well-rotted stable manure once in 

 two or three years, an occasional dressing of wood ashes, muriate 



