79 



BULLETIN OF 



Massachusetts Board of Agricultuee. 



PEACH GROWING IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Address bt L. W. Rice of Wilbraham, at the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of 

 THE Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association. 



Establishing an Orchaed. 



Location. — First choose the site of the orchard. This should be 

 a place of good elevation with good air and water drainage, which 

 sometimes is hard to find and purchase. The land should be cleared 

 of all trees and rocks. This can be accomplished best, and with least 

 expense, by using dynamite. An orchard can be raised if the 

 stumps and rocks are not all cleared away, but in the end the cost 

 of clearing is saved in broken tools, loss of time and unpleasantness 

 while spraying and cultivating. It is a pleasure to work in an 

 orchard that has been well cleared, while one in which the stumps 

 and rocks have been left is constantly trying one's patience. We 

 want to carry on our business so that the work in the orchard 

 will be a pleasure; and it is a pleasure to work in a good orchard. 

 If the land contains any wet places they should be tile drained. The 

 tile should be placed 3V2 feet deep, so that the roots of the trees 

 will not displace them; also, so as to drain the soil deep enough 

 to give the roots plenty of room. The land should be thoroughly 

 plowed. This is a slow, tedious job on rough land. It is best to 

 plow the land in the fall, for then it will be finer and in better 

 shape than if left until spring. If, however, one is unable to plow 

 until spring, and it be a dry spring, harrow every morning what 

 was plowed the day before. In this way the land holds the moisture. 

 Selecting the Trees. — Next comes the problem of selecting the 

 trees. This should also be done the previous fall in order to obtain 

 the desired varieties and grades of trees. In selecting varieties it 

 is best to choose such as will ripen in succession, so as to hold the 

 market and distribute the labor over as long a period as possible. 

 A good succession covering the period from about August 1 to 

 September 15 is as follows: Greensboro, Waddell, Carman, Hiley, 

 Belle of Georgia and Elberta. Chairs Choice comes later than the 



