PEACH 



to introduce into general piac'tice tbe most improved 

 methods of culture. 



Tlie Peach business on the whole has been profitable 

 to Delaware. The days, however, when fortunes were 

 made from a single crop, when a farm was bought or a 

 large mortgage lifted in a single season, have passed. 

 Once those times were known in Delaware, but that was 

 before Georgia, the Carolinas, Arkansas, the Ozark 

 region of Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, 

 or Connecticut had entered into the business on their 

 present scale. Peach - growing is still attractive to 

 planters in Delaware. More money can be made in it 

 than in general farm crops. More attention is being 

 given to the selection of varieties, to the care and plant- 

 ing of orchards, the picking and handling of the crop, 

 and, last butnot le:ist. ti. tli.' n]!irketing of the fruit,with 

 as many middleinfii .'limiiKii,-.! us modern business 

 methods will allow. 



Peaches Carriet! h,i P,„„s,jh;,„i.i Ptiilntad, Delaware 



Division. 

 rear. Baskets. Year. Baskets. Year. Baskets. 



1878 .-,l:1 liin 



The figures for 1900 include the peninsula, but not 

 two small side lines. It is estimated that 1,000,000 

 baskets were carried by other means and that 500,000 

 were used by the canneries. Probably two-thirds of the 

 Peaches included in this estimate were grown in Dela- 

 '"^T^- Charles Weight. 



The Peach in California.— There is no distinct 

 Peach belt in California, but the Peach is grown suc- 

 cessfully over a wide area and under varied climatic 

 conditions. Tourists generally talk of "the California 

 climate " as if it were one thing, but a glance at the 

 article California in this work will give the reader 

 some idea of the immense variety of climate and crop 

 conditions. 



A narrow strip along the coast is too cold for the 

 best quality of Peaches, even wlinrc frost i^ unknown. 



A very few miles inland and up to an .i.-vation of ■_>. - 



3,000 ft., the Peach is at Ijomr wlim tlio Lrrowrr hav 

 done his part. In a lari;t- part of tlo' -tati- tin- l..>t 

 results are attained only byirrii^MiiMii. In ^oino placo.- no 

 rain falls from the time the trees bloom until tlm latest 

 fruit is gathered. There are sonu- l".alitn s. jiow.-ver, 

 where the water in the soil is close on.uii.-h to tin- sur- 

 face to give an ideal supply of moisture witln.ut irriga- 

 tion. It is an odd fact that Peaches in the central part 

 of the state ripen before those in the southern part. 

 The time of ripening in the extreme southern part does 

 not vary much from that of southern Ohio, while 500 

 miles north in the Sacramento valley they ripen two to 

 four weeks earlier. In some of the warm foothill regions, 

 -■Vlesander begins to ripen the latter part of May. 



All kinds of care are given orchards, as one will find 

 in any state, but on the whole orchards probably re- 

 ceive much more attention in California than elsewhere 

 in the United States. The successful orchardist has 

 learned well the lesson that there is room at the top. 

 The less careful have learned that there is little money 

 in the orchard business. 



In the preparation of the soil, deep plowing is all 

 that is usually done. California soils are generally 

 about the same all the way down, but vary much in 

 depth. Good Peach orchard soils should be not less 

 than 4 feet deep, and a L'coati-r 'topth is desirable. 



The trees are usually |.lanto,| L'i)-25feet apart. In the 

 southern part of tin- -tato tho I'ost practice is to grow 

 nothing between th.- tiaos. ov.-n the fir.st year. The till- 

 age is thorough, deep and frequent. After February I, 

 tillage is given in two directions after each rain, care 

 being taken to complete the work before the soil can 



PEACH 



1241 



bake or get hard. This double cultivation is Kept up at 

 least once a month after rains cease, which is usually in 

 March. Thorough surface tillage is practiced after each 

 irrigation. Tillage may be much deeper without injury 

 in California than in most states, for the reason that 

 there is a much warmer subsoil which permits the roots 

 to go down deeply to roach flic- luoistun- nrr.-ssary to 

 carry them over the Ion- jM-rioils wjtliout rain ■■<■ ii-n^-a- 

 tion. Orchards should l.o |.orf,.th froo of m.,,u fr?,™ 

 March 1 to the end of tho -rowm- s.as.m. il.au til- 

 lage is not sufficient. Tlic grouml uuist be in tiue tilth 

 from 4-6 inches deep and kept so all summer. 



The low-headed tree has the preference. At planting, 

 the nursery tree is cut back to 12-18 inches. The first 

 six weeks after growth begins the trees are gone over 

 at least once a week to rub off all sprouts that are not 

 desired. Pour or five are left to form the main branches ; 

 these should be as evenly distributed around the tree as 

 possible. Also they should be as far apart in a vertical 

 direction as possible, as two growths should not come 

 from one place. Three or 4 feet of new growth for each 

 branch the first year is considered fair. The first prun- 

 ing occurs the following winter, .\bout three-fourths 

 of tlip season's erowth is cut back and all small shoots 

 arc taken otf fi-oin what i~ I, -ft. This facilitates even 



ami hotter -iMwtli of the m mlar\ hraliches that start 



tlo- s n<l \.ar. Tloic s|i.,uhl ),.• _'-:: of these branches 



from cacli primary hralah. h.inu- careful to keep all 

 others rublied off by at least weekly visits to the tree 

 for a month or more after growth begins. The second 

 winter's pruning consists in cutting back one-half to 

 three-fourths of the length of the main growths and 

 cutting out most of the small side shoots. .\ few are 

 left to bear some fruit the thir.l ye.,r. r.aeh fall oi- w in- 

 ter at least one-half the Icnijth .'if the main irniuthv is 

 cut back and a number of tlio remaiinn:; small l.eaiing 

 shoots are take,, out. If these bearing shoots have 

 ],I.iii . el fiuii 1 lids near the base, it is best to cut off 

 om i . . ih of these. If they have no fruit- 

 bml- ... : e I as they are not likely to have if the 

 tree 1- :;i .uiiiL- \ ery f ast ) tlicy are left whole. This 

 cutting back of the bearing shoots aids very much in 

 the thinning of the fruit. The best practice' is to cut 

 out all shoots which fruited the previous season. They 

 nearly all die anyway. The tree lo,,ks luuch better 

 without them and is su|i|iose(I hi he mor.^ lualtliy. 

 Nothing short of sevi-re ju nniim ^. enn - Ihe he-i i-e^ults 

 under ordinary circtiinsia, 



There is no single ojh laii.-n ot , .■ iin|n,,-taiiee than 



the thinning of the fruit. e\ee , ! o ,- -,,,!, the,-,,n-h 

 1 nam it, i: as above described. I'l . re :,i, tnn- Tu-iheds 



of thinning. The one that e;,: , ,:, ,! i, :,:,,! ,|,e 



easiest and possibly the best i e t,. , an .io 



it) is to pull off all' but two I'e.nhe. f,,,n, eaeh h.arnis; 

 shoot. A dozen or more may he on the shoot. l,ut they 

 must be taken off. The usual size of such shoots is 

 about an eighth of an inch in diameter. If they should 

 be about H inch in diameter, three or four Peaches are 

 left. The time to thin is wh. n <l,e I-e.e h.- are about 

 % inch in diameter. At this -; •' ,e 'kelv to re- 

 main on the tree (the "May .li ; i - ; i-n. and if 

 thinning is promptly done th,' .e. . ,;. ,.i strength 

 will be .small. Those who think ihi.-. i-- .-i \ , re thinning 

 should remember that any fruit, both in bulk and 

 weight, is eight times as large as one that has only half 

 its diameter. The above method of pruning and thinning 

 saves the tree fr,>in breaking down. The fruit is all mar- 

 ketable. Tin- tri [• makes a good growth and is in flue 

 comliti.in for tin s,,, .aed iiiL.- ,Top. And, finally, if pays. 



Tin- vari.tie- |.iaiiie.l III I alifomia are largely Foster 

 Early ami I, ate i lawforil. :\luir and Salway for free- 

 stone- Tl iiiL-i- .and Lemon Clings, for clings, are 



larL- ' ! I he canneries. Levi Cling is largely 



plan I - ef the foothill regions. There are 



Ulan. i ; is planted in a small way. Some of 



the ula.i ,.111. i- -ive promise of taking a place among 

 the regulars. A good variety of Peach for California 

 must have large fruits and plenty of them, which will 

 ship well and dry well. White Peaches are but little 

 used. The canneries are paying the best prices for good 

 yellow clings. 



Three or four irrigations, about a mouth apart, are 

 usually given. The furrow system is the prevalent one. 



