76 THE NEW HORTICULTURE. 



fruit of most excellent flavor. There is, perhaps, no coun- 

 try in the world where a peach crop can be counted on 

 with more certainty than on the above varieties here. The 

 warm Gulf breeze beats back the early fall northers, and our 

 peach trees hold their leaves until late in fall ; in fact, often 

 almost until Christmas. This causes them to rest late enough 

 in spring, if not winter-pruned, to nearly always miss the 

 killing late frosts, so fatal further up the country. It is true 

 that the Waldo and Angel, which bloom first, sometimes get 

 caught, but they have the remarkable faculty of holding back 

 enough buds, with almost human sagacity, to furnish a full 

 crop, even if the first blooms are killed. This peculiarity, 

 with their good eating and shipping qualities and small pits, 

 makes them not only very desirable for home use, but should 

 make them profitable as a market crop when the interior 

 peaches are killed. The so-called Spanish peaches, Gal- 

 veston, Onderdonk, Carpenter, Florida Crawford, Countess 

 Victoria, and others, are really nothing more than common 

 seedlings of more than ordinary merit, but not profitable for 

 any except a nearby market. They lack color, nor are all of 

 that list good bearers here, and all are late. I omitted to say 

 that the Dwarf Japan Blood has proved of no value, having 

 been unproductive now for four years. 



As stated elsewhere, the peach must have dry feet and a 

 firm soil, both top and bottom, for health and long life here. 

 There is no place for a close root-pruned peach orchard like 

 a rolling, well drained, virgin prairie sod, with close mowing 

 during the growing season. But not for trees set with long 

 roots. By imitating nature, and planting close root-pruned 

 trees, practically seed, on ground like she selects, perhaps 

 even the dread yellows will never appear, and peaches 

 may be grown at the far North with good success, where now 

 they either die of the above disease or winter-kill every year. 

 The curculio and common cotton-boll worm are the only 

 serious enemies to the fruit here, and the best preventive I 

 have ever tried is a thorough spraying with weak whitewash, 

 with a little gas tar added to make it smell. This appeals to 

 both sight and smell, and has given me sound fruit. 



