OCTOBEK 15. 1916 



995 



HIGH-PRESSURE GARDENING 



PI;ANTINO A PEACH-TREE. 



When we built our little bungalow three 

 years ago there was a peach-tree perhaps 

 two feet tall standing out near the walk in 

 front of the house. Mrs. Root wanted it 

 pulled up, for, she said, " Who wants a 

 peach-tree out in the front yard close to 

 the walk? " But I told her we would let it 

 alone, and then if it did not bear we would 

 dig it up. In grading the lawn the surface 

 was raised nearly a foot ; but I put some 

 bricks around the tree in a circle so as to be 

 about a foot away from the stem. Well, 

 last year it bore perhaps a dozen peaches — 

 great big yellow " Rareripes," as we used 

 to call them; and on this 22d day of Sep- 

 tember I have just picked a bushel of great 

 beauties, and there are nearly as many more 

 left on the tree. After eating something- 

 like half a dozen that were dead ripe I said 

 to Mrs. Root, " Sue, these are the finest 

 peaches I ever tasted." She replied, " Oh ! 

 5'ou say that of everything." 



I leave it to you, my good friends, is it 

 not a pretty good habit to get into, to be 

 pleased with things — especially things that 

 God sends us without labor or expense? for 

 I might almost say this beautiful peach-tree 

 with its luscious load never cost us a copper. 

 We never dug around it nor fertilized it, nor 

 did anything to it, and yet there are all 

 these luscious peaches. For many years it 

 has been said that peaches do not succeed 

 in Medina Co. They grow them by the car- 

 load along the shores of Lake Erie, but very 

 few are grown in this locality. If you urge 

 that this was an exception, and probably 

 just happened so, I have another story to 

 tell. 



On the dividing line between our place 

 and that of our daughter Carrie Belle, her 

 folks planted a barberry hedge; in fact, 

 they planted it before we moved in. Well, 

 right close to my garage, on the dividing 

 line, three peach-trees sprang up of their 

 own accord, like the other one, and two of 

 them are not six feet apart. Now, these 

 three seedlings have quite a good crop of 

 great big handsome peaches. They are a 

 little later than our yelloAv Rarerii^es. But 

 if four peach-trees grew without any care 

 or cultivation, and bore fine luscious fruit, 

 whj' could not somebody plant an orchard 

 in that locality and grow peaches? I think 

 there are a few scattered about the town 

 and over the country ; but there is no peach- 

 orchard now very near us. While talking 

 about peaches, here is something else: I 

 guess I had better head it — 



A SHORT CUT P,ETWEEN PRODUCER AND CON- 

 SUMER. 



You know it has been one of my hobbies 

 to have the producer make the shortest cut 

 possible to the consumer, thus leaving out 

 the middleman and a number of profits. I 

 clip the following from the Cleveland Plain 

 Dealer : 



MOTORISTS BUY PEACHES ; OTTAWA COUNTY GROWEES 

 CUT OUT MIDDLEMAN BY FRONTDOOR SALES. 



Port Clinton, Sept. 18. — Hundreds of bushels 

 of peaches were taken out of Ottawa County yester- 

 day by automobile traffic alone. Nearly all touring- 

 cars which came thru Port Clinton during the day 

 visited the peach belt and came back with bushel 

 baskets tied to the running boards or strapped to the 

 car in any possible manner. 



Growers of this section have learned the best way 

 to dispose of ripe fruit is to pack it in bushel bas- 

 kets and have it ready along the road to hand to 

 buyers when they drive thru the country. 



Buyers are given choice fruit which is just right 

 for immediate use, and relieve the grower of fruit 

 which he would be unable to ship to a distant mar- 

 ket. Many automobiles lined up at fish-houses, but 

 were unable to get any fish yesterday. 



Just now our nation is full of automo- 

 biles, and they arc making them, more and 

 more every day; and lots of people use 

 these automobiles to run around over the 

 country just for pleasure, without any spe- 

 cial errand. Let me now suggest that,' when 

 you take your pleasure-ride, you hunt up 

 the producer of something you need — some- 

 thing in the way of daily food, for instance. 

 See what you are getting — get it fresh; and 

 encourage the producer by paying him spot 

 cash, as illustrated in the above clipping. 



By the way, I almost forgot the moral 

 connected with that peach-tree close by a 

 sidewalk. Its great luscious peaches have 

 been slowly ripening so near the public 

 walk that one could reach out and pick a 

 peach without even stepping over on the 

 gi-ass, and yet not a peach lias been pilfered 

 so far. Don't you think that speaks well 

 for our town of 3000 population? M;iv 

 God be praised for the privilege of living in 

 a community where they respect the proper- 

 ty of another even where no fence protecis 

 fruit when one is passing along the walk. 

 Is not such a state of morals far better than 

 " stone walls " or " barbed-wire " fences? 



'^FKOM PRODUCER TO CONSUMER ^^ — MORE 

 ABOUT IT. 



Just after the above was dictated I found 

 something in the Rural New-Yorker in re- 

 gard to long range and short range between 

 producer and consumer. See below: 



EXPENSIVE BREAKFAST FOODS. 



Not long ago we had breakfast at a farmhouse 

 back some miles in the country. We were offered 

 a choice of six different kinds of " breakfast food." 



