1236 



PEACH 



PEACH 



winter, in a severe snow storm, a branch of one of 

 them was weighted down by the snow and partly split 

 from the trunk and lay there until spring. Though the 

 thermometer during the storm fell to 30 below zero, 

 that branch bore fruit the next season. Remembering 

 this, the undersigned felt confident that if he could 

 train Peach trees so that the tops could be easily 

 brought down to the ground and covered, he could grow 



1676. The tufted shoots of Peach yellows. ( See p. 1231.) 



this most delicious fruit. After experimenting some 

 time the following method was found to be efficient. 



Secure a very young tree, preferably a seedling from 

 seed, planted where a tree is desired, and train the 

 trunk of it horizontally 8-10 inches from the ground, 

 and suffer no branches to grow. Break off the tender 

 branches when they are not more than 3 inches long by 

 bending them sideways, not down over the leaf, as that 

 would be likely to break off the leaf also. The trunk is 

 kept horizontal while it is growing by tying it loosely 

 to a slender pole, which is fastened horizontally. Of 

 course the tendency of the tree is to grow upward at 

 the end, and therefore one must look to it about once a 

 week that the branches are broken off and the trunk 

 tied down. When trained in this way the tree will con- 

 tinue to grow vigorously until frost stops it, but it is 

 necessary that the young wood has time to ripen suffi- 

 ciently to endure the winter. The writer finds that if he 

 ceases to break off the branches for 4-6 weeks before 

 the usual time of frost, the wood at the end of the trunk 

 will be sufficiently ripened to stand the winter when 

 protected. 



To protect the tree the first winter, take some half- 

 inch boards about 3 inches wide, and nail their edges 

 together so they will be like a wooden eave-trough. 

 Then cut the tree trunk loose from the pole to which 

 it is tied, put 2 or 3 shovelfuls of earth around the 



roots and place some evergreens on the ground under 

 the trunk (just enough to keep it from the soil) ; lay the 

 tree upon the evergreens and place the trough over the 

 tree, covering it completely from root to tip. Finally 

 place a few evergreen boughs over the whole. If the 

 butts of the boughs are thrust a little into the ground 

 they will be frozen in and held firmly. 



In the spring when danger from frost is past uncover 

 the tree, fasten the little pole in its place, tie the tree to 

 it and place the trough over the whole of the tree, ex- 

 cept a little of the tip. This is important, for if this 

 horizontal trunk, which now has no leaves, is not cov- 

 ered from the sun the bark will surely be killed along 

 its top. After the buds at the tip have grown a little, 

 break off all but the strongest, and train as in the pre- 

 vious year and so continue until the desired length of 

 trunk is obtained. If the tree is in good soil and well 

 cultivated it will in 2 or 3 years make a trunk 10-15 feet 

 long. When this latter length is attained the trunk is 

 long enough to be pliable for a good many years, as its 

 thickness does not increase very fast. Now, while keep- 

 ing the horizontal trunk in its place, allow its end to grow 

 up and form a head, which may be trained in a fan-shaped 

 fashion, parallel with the trunk. A stout stake is driven 

 at the place where the head is formed, to which it is tied 

 during the growing season. When freezing weather 

 comes the head is loosened from the stake and turned 

 over sideways on some evergreens placed to keep it off 

 the soil. Over the head of the tree put a few more ever- 

 greens and over these some boards to keep snow from 

 sifting in, which will melt during a mild time, and later 

 form ice about the twigs and kill them. 



From this time the treatment of the tree is the same 

 as that of any fruit tree, except that it must be covered 

 each fall and tied up each spring. The writer was 

 warned that he would be troubled with mice under tho 

 coverings, but he has practiced plowing between the 

 trees each fall, turning the furrows toward the trees, 

 and has not been troubled with the rodents. Trees 

 treated in this way never fail to bear and produce as 

 abundantly as when grown upright from the start. 



J. T. MACOMBEB. 



THE MICHIGAN PEACH INDUSTRY. The history of 

 commercial Peach-growing in Michigan would be a fas- 

 cinating tale indeed if it could be written in detail. 

 The eras of prosperity bringing on in many cases the 

 wildest speculation in property, followed sometimes 

 by severe depressions, have given our prominent Peach 

 centers some of the features of a western mining camp. 

 Frequently some shrewd painstaking grower rises to 

 affluence with a few crops from a well-grown orchard, 

 on a wisely selected location, and there immediately fol- 

 lows a class of men who take money out of other lines 

 and plunge into the mysteries of Peach-growing with 

 the recklessness of a gambler, often purchasing most 

 unsuitable locations, planting large quantities of ill- 

 chosen varieties, cultivating them for a few years, only 

 to learn in the end that Peach-growing is a profession, 

 and the production of large quantities of luscious, beau- 

 tiful fruit, and getting them to market at their highest 

 stage of excellence, is no mean art. 



The so-called Peach belt of Michigan is a strip of 

 country located on the east shore of Lake Michigan, 

 varying in width from five to ten miles. In three or 

 four locations, owing to the favorable contour of the 

 lake and topography of the land, Peaches are grown 

 with a marked degree of success, even as far as forty 

 miles inland. This belt begins probably fifteen miles 

 south of St. Joseph, in Berrien county, and extends 

 northward to the northern shores of Traverse bay, Lee- 

 lanaw county, a distance of some 190 miles ; but not all 

 of this belt is successful even though near the lake, it 

 being a notable fact that the most successful regions 

 are where the land line extends nearest the center of 

 the lake, while it is noticeable that where the lake is 

 broadest, extending into the land, the least success is 

 attained. 



The wonderful success of this region can be ac- 

 counted for by just two conditions, a suitable soil and 

 the thermal influence of Lake Michigan. The combina- 

 tion is so good that this region has not seen an entire 

 failure of the crop in thirty years, and very few light 

 crops. Usually there are three to five heavy crops to 



