26 



ROBBING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



A four-year-old Peach tree with fruit-'bearing laterals from 

 the point where the main branches diverge from the main 

 body of the tree to the very top. 



county, handles no less than 8000 tons of peaches an- 

 nually in its plant, and this is only a very small part of 

 the canning peaches raised yearly in Fresno county. 



The commercial importance of peach growing cannot 

 be estimated in dollars and cents, for the great territory 

 over which the peach thrives with the practical cer- 

 tainty of a crop one year with another makes the field 

 a very promising one. 



STOCKS FOR THE PEACH 



Without exception the peach root is used exclusively 

 for growing peaches. For several years I have been 

 carrying on experiments with different varieties to de- 

 termine their value from a standpoint of growth and 

 general freedom from crown gall, and taking it all in 

 all, the Salway comes first, and the trees produced from 

 Lovell and Muir seed next. Within the last few years 

 I have been carrying on experiments with Tennessee 

 natural pits and am already convinced of their value as 

 to the vigor of growth. If the rcot system is found to 

 be healthy and of a fibrous character, this stock will be 

 given the preference. 



DISTANCES APART 



In former years it was customary to plant peaches 

 twenty feet apart. The trees grew so rapidly that it 

 was only a question of a few years when the branches 

 were interlacing. On sandy soils from twenty-four to 

 twenty-five feet is a very satisfactory distance to plant, 

 while on heavy soils twenty-eight to thirty feet is 

 better. 



PRUNING 



The general cultural directions for the handling of 

 deciduous fruit trees in the introductory chapters should 

 be closely followed in the case of the peach tree. Noth- 

 ing will bring a peach tree to a premature end quicker 

 than not to prune. The trees as they stand in nursery 

 rows have the limbs removed to a point about twelve 



inches from the ground. Instead of removing all these 

 limbs when topping the tree at twenty inches, they 

 should be cut back to about two inches long, so in case 

 the buds on the main body do not start in the spring 

 the buds on the smaller branches will. If the buds do 

 start on the main bcdy, the branchlets may be clipped 

 off with a shear. 



All growers are practically in accord that peach 

 trees must be pruned. How to do it, brings up an end- 

 less amount of argument. They say "A confession is 

 good for the soul"; I am not going to argue this pro or 

 con except to say that I am now firmly of the opinion 

 that the ideas that I have had for a number of years 

 relative to the pruning of the peach, while they may not 

 be absolutely wrong, do not bring the trees into bearing 

 as early and as prolifically as it should. There is no 

 argument about heading the trees to twenty inches 

 after setting and resorting to very severe pruning the 

 first year, cutting off at least one-half, or better still 

 two-thirds of the current season's growth. Not more 

 than four branches should be used to make the head of 

 the tree, and they should be distributed to secure as 

 symmetrical a tree as possible. Heretofore my recom- 

 mendation to prune back severely in the second and 

 third years has resulted in developing an immerse 

 amount of woody growth, producing a fine umbrageous 

 head, which was a sight to behold in the summer months 

 and which to all appearances, judging from the general 

 healthfulness of the tree, was the right policy to follow. 

 Careful observations have now convinced me that this 

 severe pruning has promoted the woody growth of the 

 tree to such an extent that it has militated against its 

 fruitfulness. Instead of cutting the framework branches 

 back so severely in the second and third years they 

 should not be cut back more than one-third and the 

 laterals distributed along their entire length at intervals 

 of six to eight inches apart should be shortened in, of 

 course, but not cut off. By following this plan a crop 



The same tree pruned. The young man, George Stephenson, 

 standing beside this tree was one of the author's foremen, 

 who sacrificed his life on the soil of France while fighting 

 for his country. 



