1230 



PEACH 



PEACH 



Peaches can be readily seen and handled. The fruit 

 from well-thinned trees usually sells for twice as much 

 as that from overloaded trees, and the vigor of the 

 trees is conserved at the same time; and the grower 

 has the satisfaction of selling a superior product. 

 There are two rules for the workman to observe in the 

 thinning of fruit: (1) removal of injured or inferior 

 fruits; (2) allow no two fruits to stand closer together 

 than the distance which has been decided on say about 

 six inches for Peaches. 



Marketing. If growers are negligent in thinning the 

 fruit, they are too often positively careless in marketing 

 it. Even in years of low prices, honestly and tastefully 

 packed fruit brings good prices. The handsome boxes 

 of California Peaches, containing 60 wrapped fruits, will 

 sell readily for $2 to $4, whilst home-grown fruit sells 

 for 25 to 75 cents a half bushel; and yet the latter may 

 be the better by the time it reaches the consumer. 



There are several faults with common methods of 

 handling Peaches. The packages are too large. The 

 fruit is not graded and selected ; in fact, it is not well 

 grown. There are often no wooden covers on the bas- 

 kets, and, as a consequence, that part of the package 



1665. Bloom of double-flowered 

 Peach 



1666. 



Bloom of large- and 

 small-flowered Peaches. 



which should look the best is usually the most jammed 

 and crushed. In observing the markets, one finds that 

 quite half the packages are not full when they reach 

 the salesman. The Peach is a dessert fruit and should 

 command a fancy price. Therefore, it should be packed 

 in dainty baskets, and the packages should be sold with 

 the fruit. Peaches in bushel baskets is a contradiction 

 of ideals: the bushel package is for apples, potatoes, 

 and turnips. 



In New Jersey and Michigan the staple Peach pack- 

 age has been the tall, wide-topped basket. Of late years, 

 however, different forms of the Climax basket (Fig. 1674) 

 have come to be popular, and in some parts of the country 

 they are used exclusively. The fruit always should be 

 packed after it is picked, the best grade being carefully 

 placed in the packages by hand. 



Insects. The two most serious insect enemies of the 

 Peach are the borer and curculio. The borer usually 

 works in the crown of the tree near the surface of the 

 ground. The borer itself is the larva of a wasp-like 

 moth. It is an annual insect, completing its life-cycle 

 within a twelvemonth. The eggs are laid in summer. 

 By October, in most parts of the country, the larva 

 is large enough to be detected. In September or Octo- 

 ber, therefore, it is well to grub the trees. The earth 



is removed from the crown with a hoe or strong iron 

 trowel, and whenever a hole is discovered in the bark 

 or gum is exuding, the bark is cut away with a knife 

 until the grub is discovered. Not all the grubs can 

 be detected at any one grubbing. It is well to go over 

 the trees again the follo\ving May or June, to catch the 

 large grubs before they pupate. The grubbing of trees 

 may seem like a laborious operation, but it is not ex- 

 pensive if done frequently and thoroughly. It does not 

 compare with pruning in cost or labor. It is the only 

 sure and satisfactory way to avoid injury by borers. 



The curculio attacks the fruit. Soon after the blos- 

 soms fall the small weevil or beetle, which resembles 

 a pea-bug, lays its eggs in the fruit; and from these 

 eggs a grub soon hatches, and the Peach becomes 

 wormy. The eggs are laid during a considerable period 

 from two to four weeks depending on the location 

 and the season. The insect is more or less dormant in 

 the cool of the morning and will drop when the tree 

 is jarred, and this allows the peach-grower a chance of 

 catching it. A large sheet, covering the spread of the 

 top, is laid under the tree and the tree is jarred quickly 

 two or three times, when the curculio falls, and it is then 

 picked from the sheet. There are various apparatus for 

 catching the curculio, all working on the above principle. 

 One of the best of these is a 2-wheeled rig, something 

 like a wheelbarrow, which carries a large canvas or 

 muslin hopper. There is an opening in the hopper op- 

 posite the operator, to allow the hopper to be wheeled 

 under the tree so that the trunk may stand near the 

 middle of the machine. When the machine is in place, 

 the operator gives the tree two or three quick thumps, 

 and the insects drop. Usually, there is a tin or zinc 

 receptacle at the apex of the hopper into which insects 

 may be shaken. This bugging operation is begun early 

 in the morning, usually by five o'clock. The first explo- 

 ration with the bugging-machine is made within a week 

 after the blossoms fall. If insects are found the opera- 

 tion is continued. If the insects are very abundant the 

 bugging will need to be done every morning; but if they 

 are not abundant it may be necessary to go over the 

 plantation only two or three times a week. The bugging 

 is continued as long as the insects are found in suffi- 

 cient quantity to do much damage. Two or three weeks 

 will usually cover the egg-laying season; but sometimes 

 the catching must be continued even longer than this. 

 This bugging is a laborious operation, but it is the only 

 sure method of combating the curculio. The work can 

 be made much more easy and expeditious if the ground 

 is hard and firm, to allow the machines to be wheeled 

 readily. It is well, therefore, to till the orchard as early 

 as possible, and if the ground is very soft to go over it 

 with a slicker or other compacting implement just be- 

 fore the bugging operation begins. After the curculio 

 catching is done, one may begin the thinning of the 

 fruit. All Peaches which give evidence of having been 

 attacked by the curculio are then picked ; this is an im- 

 portant means of keeping the pest in check. 



Diseases. The Peach is subject to many insidious 

 and inexplicable diseases. Of these the worst is yel- 

 lows. The yellows is a distinct disease. It is not a 

 condition. It attacks Peach trees of all ages and in all 

 conditions of vigor, seeming to have a preference for 

 those that are thrifty. It is incurable, and its termi- 

 nation is always fatal. It is communicable from tree to 

 tree. The means of communication is unknown, but it 

 is not spread through the soil, it probably does not 

 originate in the roots, it is evidently not conveyed 

 from flower to flower, and it is probably not transferred 

 by means of pruning tools. It may be disseminated 

 by buds, even by those from branches that do not yet 

 show signs of the disease. The one unmistakable 

 symptom of yellows is the red-spotted character of the 

 fruit. The flesh is commonly marked by red lines or 

 splashes beneath the spots. These Peaches generally 

 ripen prematurely, and in the second year they are 

 usually smaller and often more fuzzy than the normal 

 fruit. The second symptom to appear or the first in 

 trees not in fruit is the "tip " growth (Fig. 1675). This 

 is a short growth starting from the upper or terminal 

 buds, usually late in the season, and is characterized 

 by narrow stiff yellowish small leaves which stand at 

 nearly right angles to the shoot. Sometimes these tips 



