No. 4.] PEACH GROWING. 139 



help keep the furrow from washing. When the trees get so large it 

 is impossible in some places to plow the furrows along the side of 

 the hill all the way, plow them so as to catch the water, and if need 

 be plow straight down the hill to carry the water off. It is much 

 better to have a few deep gullies washed that can be filled up with 

 stone than to have a lot of the top soil washed off, as would prob- 

 ably be the case if the water was allowed to run down over the 

 surface of the hill. 



Trim the little trees in August, forming the head. Trim a peach 

 tree just opposite to what you would if you were raising a tree 

 for a saw log. A tree with from five to seven branches at the 

 crotch will not be nearly so apt to split down as one with only 

 two or three branches. If the tree is so shaped as to make it im- 

 possible to form a good head, tie up one of the best branches so it 

 will grow up straight. Later, cut off all the rest of the tree and 

 form the head out of that branch. Late in the fall, just before it 

 freezes up, bank the trees with dirt IQ or 12 inches high. Be care- 

 ful to pack the dirt firmly. If pieces of turf are thrown uj^ loosely 

 mice are apt to get in and nest and gnaw the trees. This banking 

 not only protects the tree from mice but it keeps the water from 

 running or standing around it. Then, again, if it is an unusually 

 severe winter and kills the tender tree back, it will not usually kill 

 it below the top of the mound. That leaves plenty of live wood 

 between the bud and the top of the mound from which new limbs 

 will start, and a new head can be formed from one of these. 



The writer used to raise a crop of corn or potatoes in the orchard 

 the first year and gives clean cultivation to all the land eveiy year 

 after until the last of July or first of August. Experience has 

 taught that it is mighty hard in this locality to raise a cover crop, 

 after the trees are three or four years old, that will add much humus 

 to the soil. So now I am trying to raise some legximes the first few 

 years to store up humus for the orchard later. 



Pruning. — The second spring cut off one-half or two-thirds 

 of the last year's growth. Along in August or the first of September 

 thin out the branches where they are too thick. From this time 

 until time of fruiting do not allow the branches to become too thick, 

 for it is fruit that we are after. If the head is thick the fruit may 

 set, but it will drop. After the trees come into bearing they need 

 very little trimming, except to cut off broken limbs and cut out the 

 dead wood, with a little thinning of the head occasionally. 



Order of Season's Work. 

 Along in February we begin to trim the old trees, leaving the 

 young ones until the last, as they are more apt to be killed back, 

 and the longer we can leave them the plainer they show where they 



