29 



the tops are frozen back; and the fact that the smaller trees may be 

 planted more thickly on the ground is an economy of land. 



There are no nurseries in the United States, so far as the writer 

 knows, where peach trees are being commercially propagated on plum 

 roots. There probably never will be until a strong demand arises for 

 that kind of peach trees, because it necessarily costs more than to 

 propagate them in the usual way. These suggestions, therefore, are 

 practically available only to those men who like to bud their own 

 trees. The majority of us, who are compelled to depend on the nursery- 

 men, will still be satisfied with peach trees on peach roots. 



Planting the Orchard. 



The soil must be in prime condition before the trees are set. This is 

 a rule which applies to all fruit trees, but more emphatically to the 

 peach than to any other. The land should be in prime cultivation, 

 deeply plowed, well drained and in good physical condition, and should 

 contain a reasonable amount of available fertility. Tile drainage, 

 always a safe undertaking on high-class agricultural land, is the means 

 of improvement advisable on many tracts designed for peach culture. 



It is an open question whether fall planting or spring planting is 

 better. Under certain circumstances one will succeed better than the 

 other; but given other circumstances, and the other will have the 

 preference. As a general tiling, it may be said that fall planting is 

 better when all conditions are thoroughly favorable. If the soil is in 

 first-class condition, if the trees are fresh and sound, if the planting 

 is well done and if a favorable winter follows, then fall planting is likely 

 to show a positive advantage over spring planting. On the other hand, 

 if the soil is not well drained, if the trees are in poor condition, if the 

 planting is carelessly done or if it should be followed by a severe, 

 freezing winter, there is likely to be more or less damage, as a result. 

 On the whole, the writer is inchned to favor fall planting for the experts 

 who have everything their own way, and who are able to control con- 

 ditions in their favor; but to advise spring planting for men of less 

 experience, or for those less favorably situated. 



(iood peach trees fit to plant must be one year old. Two-year-old 

 trees are seldom worth the trouble of planting out. The so-called 

 "June buds," which technically pass as one-year-old trees, but which 

 are really something less, are not to be recommended; they should 

 be l)Ought only as a last resort. 



Good trees should be of medium to large size. Small, light trees are 

 inferior, while the very largest ones are difficult to handle, and are not 

 proportionately valuable. Amongst nurserymen trees are usually 

 gi'aded according to the size. One grade runs 4 to .') feet; the next 

 ') to feet, the next grade 6 to 7 feet. As a rule, the writer j^rcfers 

 trees of the 5 to G foot grade. Splendid peach trees can be grown in 

 Mas.sachusetts nurseries, but, as a matter of fact, very few of theni 



