PEACH 



1237 



^ht one where urchards a 



tly bandied. 



lii«tory of the industry c 

 viar prior to 1800, but 



probably be dated to 



did not reach any 



about 18C4 and was at high tide by 



■ ■ date the comnieri-ia"l 



doubt existed here a year or two pre 

 little attention was paid to this disi;i 

 such impetus and virulence that tlH'^^ 



I'each industry gavi- n]' in H.-|.,iir : 

 country or turned ili' - i^'' ■ " ••■ (: 

 fruits, which latter I! av. 



Harbor, the distiii. 1 1 _ h. 



point for small fruit in iln I nitp.i st 

 While this destruction of the onli; 

 iit this iioint a few men at South H;i\ 

 on the high banks of Lake Michigan 

 and slopes and most beautiful surrc 

 gun the planting of orchards, and 

 of misfortunes and with a higher i 

 to investigate the dread disease; ani 

 rectly did thev learn its treatment 

 the yellows ha-i ii.v.r cntt™ tin- stai 



within :iO miles Iju-au .^LiUini: 

 the entire country being cu\ .■ 

 tor miles around, but when t 

 owners, with strange perv. 

 diseased trees or allow it t.. 

 recently enacted for the pui-) 

 from ifestruction by this m 

 They even went into the coin 

 the ax and Are of the legal 



rops or small 

 1 port, Benton 

 iest shipping 



n was great, until now imnn n- 

 etcd in Kent, Oceana, Mason, Be ii 

 and Leelaiiaw counties, while 1; 

 ning her lost prestige as the li 

 :y, an honor long held by Allegan 

 all these counties the yellows now 

 I'hards over four years old, but onl; 



ones in every township, compelling them to destroy 

 immediately all affected trees or do it themselves, 

 charging up all cost and collecting it with other taxes. 

 Si) well does this law work and so few are our other 

 liifliciilties that this Peach belt is now beyond doubt tlie 

 liest in America, the crops being more profitable than 

 iliosr of California and more reliable than those of any 

 cithc'r si'ction. 



it is impossible at tliis date im irivc stati^tie- a^ U' ili.' 

 acreage of yield, as tin- l.n^un -, i- .xt^ n.lini.' -.i ■. . i , 

 rapidly and the census rn|.,,M ,,t' Pino n imt \ni i-md' 

 In a general way it may I..- ,anl ilnit tin- intir.' rr:,'n.n 



orchards of Georgia c;ui hr t.. .n I i ,it<-, but or- 

 chards can be found in ev. i . I ].roducing 

 more Peaches fr.>m one a.-f nnmoth or- 

 chards do from four, and gi\ii]_' r. _'n n- mtnial crops. 

 Trees well cared for usually begin producing at two 

 years old, and at four years old should and do produce 

 4 to .1 bushels per tree, while the best orchards some- 



times produce as high as 8 or If) bushels on trees 6 to S 

 years old and with trees set 20 by 20 ft., which is coui- 

 mon practice, the yield varies from 200 to 800 bushels 

 per acre. 



The cultivation and care of the Peach orchard have un- 

 dergone great change in the past 10 years. What might 

 he stvln.l in"(lf rti iiirthods prevail now in nearly every 



ti'-ii-'hi' n ': !: n md thorough tillage, careful timely 



I"' I ! liming previous to the pit-hardening 



1" 1 1 ' i ■!■ lining our best growers. They know 



tliai ,1 ti. . r., rl .nl.d cannot produce choice fruit nor 

 can a tree weakened by an excessive crop of fruit pro- 

 duce a good crop the following year. 



The best fertilization for our soils for Peach-growing 

 seems to be phosphoric acid in the form of bone, and 

 potash in the form of carbonate or muriate, with vege- 

 table mold furnished every year by a growth of oats or 

 other winter cover-crop sown after tillage ceases in 

 August. This cover-crop holds all the Peach foliage 

 where it falls. In the spring it furnishes a decomposed 

 mass ready to be turned under to a shallow depth by 

 gang plows. 



The packages used are of various kinds, but the prin- 

 cipal c.iiis are till- (iiie-flfth bushel or 10-pound basket, 

 In ' liii-in I .ii :' 1 1, mnd basket and the bushel basket 

 . while the C-basket carrier crate, 

 ' i f fruit, is a favorite package for 



oa.lcd where the 

 or consigned to 

 I five or six great 

 : take solid trains of refrigerators out of 



y evening on rapid schedules for points 



he favnritn markrts linin- liuiralo, Pitts- 

 < I l;.-inii in il a~l. Iinliariapolis 



The profits of tin, n..; 

 skill and judgnn nt . i ! . 

 impossible to gi\ •■ an. ni.n. nuoi 



$100 to $150 per acre for a term 

 care, but the best growers reali: 



1 n er pomts. 

 i according to the 

 t it is well-nigh 



age net profit at 

 irs with ordinary 

 greater i 



Indeed, in 1899, when all other regions except California 

 had an entire failure, the region about Benton Harbor 

 and St. Joseph had a fair crop and net returns of $300 

 to $500 per acre were common, while in one orchard over 

 $:I5,000 was taken from 40 acres, and one block of four 



•s of Kll„ 



of : 



per 



of operating a |. .i i .. . . , ii .-.lucing cost of 



packages and p;. ..: _ .. i and facilitating 



sales. The ilisa.h .mia-i i- m hauling loose Peaches 

 several miles, and in the extra handling, which causes 

 bruising and in.iury to quality if fruit is ripe. This last 

 fact necessitates picking the fruit rather green and 



