PEA 



PEACH 



1227 



planter more dependent upon the ability and honesty of 

 his seedsman. 



Some of the most distinct types of the hundreds of 

 varieties of garden Peas are: 



(1) The earliest kinds, such as Alaska and First and 

 Best, which produce early-maturing, comparatively 

 small pods filled with Peas of rather low quality, on 

 vines about 2 feet high. 



(2) A long list of dwarf -growing sorts like American 

 Wonder (Fig. 1656) and Premium Gem, which produce 

 small- or medium-sized pods generally crowded with 

 Peas of fine quality on vines ranging from 6-18 inches 

 in height. 



(3) A large class like Strategem and Heroine, which 

 produce very large pods containing large, rich-flavored 

 Peas on thick, heavy vines growing 18-30 inches high. 



(4) Lastly, there are the taller growing sorts, like 

 Telephone and Champion of England (Fig. 1658), which 

 yield large crops of large- or medium-sized pods on vines 

 growing from 4-6 feet high. 



In addition to the above-named sorts grown exclu- 

 sively for use as green Peas, there are a number of kinds 

 with hardy, vigorous, tall-growing and usually branched 

 vines which produce in great abundance smooth, hard 

 Peas which are used when ripe for split Peas or other 

 form of "soup stocks" or for stock-feeding; though 

 some of them, like the Marrowfats and the "Turkey" or 

 French Canner, are quite extensively used for canning, 

 most of the celebrated Petit Pois of France being put 

 up from the last-named variety. In field culture for 

 stock the ground should be made ready in the fall and 

 the surface simply "fined" with a cultivator, disk or 

 gang plow in the spring. As early as the surface can 

 be got into good condition sow broadcast, carefully cov- 

 ering with a gang plow or disk harrow, from 1% to 3 

 bushels of seed to the acre, according to the variety 

 used; or they can be put in rows better with an ordi- 

 nary grain drill, provided it be of a pattern with the 

 feed so arranged that it will not crack the Peas, many 

 a poor stand being due to the seed being injured by the 

 drill. It is generally an advantage to roll after sowing, 

 and in some cases a weeding harrow can be used to ad- 

 vantage when the plants are an inch or two high. The 

 crops should be harvested before the vines are so ripe 

 that the Peas will waste by shelling, and it can be done 

 by pea harvesters, which are attachments to ordinary 

 mowing machines, or cut and "rolled " into windrows or 

 bunches with a short scythe. They are easily threshed. 

 The ordinary yield is from 20 to 50 bushels to the acre. 



W. W. TRACY. 



PEA. Everlasting P., Lathy rus lalifolius. Glory P., 

 Cliatifhus Dampieri. Hoary P., Pigeon P., Cajanus 

 Imlicus. Scurfy P., Psoralea. Sweet P., Lathyrus odo- 

 ratus and Sweet Pea. 



PEACH. Plate XXVI. The Peach is essentially a lux- 

 ury. Its cultivation is attended with much risk. The 

 areas in which it can be grown with success are scattered, 

 particularly in the northern states. The Peach is tender 

 to frost, and the liability of the buds and blossoms to 

 injury constitute the greatest risk in the growing of the 

 fruit. Strangely enough these risks of frost are greater 

 in the South than in the North, because the buds are 

 likely to be swollen by the "warm spells" of the south- 

 ern winter, and to be killed by sudden freezes. In the 

 northeastern states the Peach areas are determined 

 chiefly by mildness of winter temperature. They lie 

 near large bodies of water, in which places the tempera- 

 ture is considerably ameliorated. In close proximity to 

 the seacoast the winds are usually too strong to allow 

 of the growing of Peaches, but some distance inland 

 and on the margins of the Great Lakes and other inte- 

 rior bodies of water, the fruit may be grown without dif- 

 ficulty. While Peaches are grown over a very large 

 range of country in the United States, still the great 

 commercial regions are relatively few. One of these re- 

 gions lies in proximity to the southernmost members of 

 the Great Lakes, particularly along the southeastern 

 part of Lake Ontario in New York and Canada, along 

 the southern shore of Lake Erie and on the eastern 

 shore of Lake Michigan. In this latter belt, known as 

 the Michigan "fruit belt," the Peach reaches its highest 

 northern limit in the eastern states, being grown with 



profit as far north as Grand Traverse, on the 44th parallel. 

 Another large area begins near Long Island Sound, in 

 Connecticut, and follows the seaboard as far south as 

 the southern part of the Chesapeake peninsula and ex- 

 tending approximately one hundred miles inland. In 

 the southern Atlantic states there is another commer- 

 cial Peach area, comprising the upper lauds of Georgia, 

 Alabama and adjacent states. Farther south than this, 

 where the soil does not freeze to the depth of the roots, 

 the root-knot disease, caused by a nematode worm, is so 

 serious as often to interfere with the raising of the crop. 

 In this southern part, also, the old-time varieties of 

 Peaches do not thrive to perfection, but some of the 

 Chinese types are now giving good satisfaction. Another 

 large Peach-growing area lies in southern Illinois, extend- 

 ing westward across Missouri and into Kansas. Eastern 

 Texas has also developed a large commercial peach-grow- 

 ing business. Part of western Colorado is now becoming 

 known as a peach country. Nearly the whole of Cali- 

 fornia, except the mountains, is admirably adapted to 

 the Peach, and the fruit is grown there on a large basis. 

 There are isolated places all over the United States in 

 which Peach growing is profitable, but the above outline 

 designates the areas of largest commercial importance 

 at the present time. 



In regions that are too cold for the normal develop- 

 ment of the Peach, the tree may be grown with some 

 satisfaction by laying it down in winter. For this pur- 

 pose the tree is usually trained with a thin or rather flat 

 top so that it will lie upon the ground when the tree 

 is bent over. When the tree is to be laid down, earth 

 is dug away from the roots on one side, the ball of 

 earth which holds the roots is loosened somewhat, and 

 the tree is bent over until it reaches nearly or quite the 

 level of the ground. It may remain in this position 

 without covering, being protected by its proximity to 

 the earth and by the snow which drifts into the top ; or 

 sometimes the tree is covered with litter or even with 

 earth, if with litter, care must be taken that mice do 

 not nest therein and gnaw the trees. 



Although the Peach has many forms, it is all one spe- 

 cies, Prunus Persica. See Prunus. It is probably na- 

 tive to China, but it has been in cultivation from the 

 earliest times, and it came into Europe by way of Per- 

 sia, whence the name Persica, and also Peach. From 

 this Persian-European source have come the common 

 Peaches of the United States. These Peaches do not 

 thrive well in the extreme south, however. In more re- 

 cent years introductions have been made directly from 

 China, and these types, of which the Honey (Fig. 1661) 

 is the chief example, thrive well in the far south. Still 

 another type of Peach, which is hardy and productive 

 in the South, is the Indian type sometimes called the 

 "native peach." This is probably derived from the 

 Peaches which the early Spaniards brought into North 

 America. It has run wild over a wide range of country 

 in the South. As early as 1812 the botanist Nuttall 

 found Peaches growing wild as far west as Arkansas. 

 Still another type of Peach is the Peen-to, or the flat 

 Peach of China. This is adapted only to the extreme 

 southern part of the country, thriving well in the north- 

 ern part of the citrous belt. It is much too early-bloom- 

 ing for even the middle south. It is a very early Peach, 

 much flattened endwise, so that it has the shape of a 

 very flat apple. (Fig. 1660.) It has been described as a 

 distinct species, Prunus platycarpa, but there is every 

 reason to believe that it is only a modified form of the 

 ordinary Peach species. Price (Bulletin 39, Texas Ex- 

 periment Station) divides all Peaches which are known 

 in North America into five general groups : ( 1 ) The 

 Peen-to or flat Peach race, comprising the variety known 

 as the Peen-to (Fig. 1660), and also the Angel and 

 Waldo; (2) the South China race, with oval, long-pointed 

 fruit with deep suture near the base, represented by 

 the Honey (Fig. 1661); (3) the Spanish or Indian race, 

 with very late, yellow, firm, often streaked fruit, repre- 

 sented by various southern varieties, as the Cabler (Fig. 

 1662), Columbia, Galveston, Lulu, Texas and Victoria; 

 (4) the North China race, with large, mostly cling or 

 semi-cling fruit and very large, flat leaves, represented 

 by the Chinese Cling, Elberta (Fig. 1663), Mamie Ross, 

 Smock and Thurber ; (5) the Persian race, including 

 the common varieties of the mid-country and the North. 



