THE CULTIVATION AND DISEASES OF THE PEACH. 69 



laterals that only grow an inch or so in a season. This causes 

 new wood to grow annuall3^ all over the tree and when we do get 

 fruit it is evenly distributed, and much of it is near the ground 

 where it can be thinned very rapidly if required, which reduces 

 the labor of gathering one-half. As to the time of trimming, 

 any time in spring after the middle of March on young trees will 

 answer, but on trees of bearing size I would not do it till the fruit 

 buds begin to swell; then, if there is an abundance of live buds, 

 shorten in close as one of the quickest ways of thinning the fruit, 

 while if there are but ver}' few live buds, cut away all new wood 

 on which there are no live ones and shorten in but little those that 

 have some left on them. In this way the trees will get a good 

 trimming and yet but few buds be sacrificed. 



As to varieties, in all other fruits when planting for market we 

 consider what will yield most and sell best, while for family use 

 we select those of best quality and longest season ; but in peach 

 planting all these matters must be secondary to the one question 

 of hardiness. It is a hard fight to get peaches here any way, so 

 the main question is liow to get them and not wliat to get. 



We have in our orchards about twenty of the best known stan- 

 dard varieties, the most hardy of which are the ver}- early sorts, 

 such as Alexander, Downing, Wilder, Waterloo, etc. These have 

 never failed to produce since we have had them. They are all 

 of the Hale's Early type, semi-clingstones, ripen the last of July, 

 and are of fairly good flavor, but inclined to decay just as they 

 begin to ripen. We have sometimes obtained fancy prices for 

 them, but as a whole they are not satisfactory, except a tree or 

 two for family use. You will always have some peaches if you 

 have these. 



Next in hardiness comes the Smock, a late yellow variety with 

 a ver}' small pit, solid dry flesh of fairly good flavor ; one of the 

 best for canning, and much better as a dessert fruit than none at 

 all. No matter how cold the winter, we have always been sure 

 of some fruit from the Smock trees, and several times a full 

 supply when there was none on other varieties close by. Next 

 in hardiness come the Stump the World, Oldmixon Freestone 

 and Stevens's Rareripe. The Crawfords are the most tender of 

 all, and I would neither plant or recommend them anywhere in 

 New England, and yet when they do produce well they are the 

 most valuable, as the fruit commands the highest price in our 

 markets from its fine appearance rather than from its quality. 



