ROBBING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



27 



of peaches which will pay for cultivation may be har- 

 vested the third year, without in any way impairing 

 the vitality of the tree. 



In the fourth year and in subsequent seasons the 

 method of pruning will be self-evident to the expe- 

 rienced pruner and requires no further elucidation here. 

 This is the very idea which I hoped to bring about by 

 the old method, but it was invariably frustrated by the 

 exuberance of growth of the tree, the fruitful laterals 

 being smothered out. 



THINNING 



To obtain large, firm fruit, thinning should be done 

 when the fruit has set well and before the kernel has 

 hardened. 



Most growers become frightened when they find the 

 ground under a tree literally covered with fruit, and get 

 cold feet. Forget your imaginary troubles and keep at 

 it until your peaches are not closer than four inches 

 apart, and try to have most of them six inches from each 

 other, and then your crop will be heavier, no doubt, 

 than your tree will carry, without having a prop to sup- 

 port the overburdened branches. Less pits and more 

 pounds of actual fine, large, luscious, perfect peachy 

 peaches should be the purpose for which every grower 

 should strive. 



GATHERING 



For shipment to distant markets it is necessary to 

 pick peaches just as soon as they show a slight color. 

 At this stage they are far from being ripe and this may 

 account for their lack in flavor when they reach the 

 eastern markets. Climatic conditions are very favor- 

 able indeed in California for not only developing 

 highly colored peaches but fruit of the highest 

 flavor as well. For canning purposes, the Clings are 

 given the preference, because of their greater firmness 

 and the fact that they stand up better under the 

 cooking process. The standard size for canning peaches 

 is fruit which will just pass through a two and one- 

 quarter-inch ring. Smaller fruit than this is very rarely 

 accepted by the canners, unless it happens in years of a 

 light crop. Care should be exercised in gathering 

 peaches to be canned to avoid bruising. The fruit 

 should be well colored but not soft. 



DRYING PEACHES 



For drying the peaches must be ripe to make a first- 

 class dried article. To dry peaches to advantage, it 

 is necessary first of all to have a drying yard, or if ar- 

 rangements can be made to have a plot of ground to be 

 used for this purpose in alfalfa, so much the better. A 

 great point in favor of an alfalfa field is its freedom from 

 dust. To handle the fruit to advantage, it is necessary 

 to have tracks not only running to the sulphur houses 

 but also to the field where the trays are to be exposed to 

 the sun. In former years it was the practice to use 2x4 

 Oregon pine scantling and to screw down heavy iron 

 strapping to the two-inch edge to wheel the trucks over. 

 Portable tracks are now to be had, made entirely of 

 steel. They will last for a great many years and can be 

 moved very quickly from place to place. They are so 



constructed in sections that several hundreds of feet 

 can be put together very quickly. The same trays used 

 for apricots and prunes answer equally well for peaches. 

 The sulphuring of peaches is carried on in a shed-like 

 structure, constructed of tongue and grooved lumber 

 and lined with building paper. The peaches, after being 

 halved, are placed in the trays, cups up. In sulphuring 

 it is necessary to place cleats between the trays to per- 

 mit the fumes to penetrate in every direction. The ex- 

 posure should not be less than four hours. When a good 

 part of the halved peaches have the cups partially filled 

 with juice, it is a sign that the fruit has been in the sul- 

 phur bath a sufficient length of time. If the trays have 

 . been placed in the house late in the afternoon, let them 

 remain overnight and take them out the next morning. 

 If taken out in the evening they will have a dark color 

 and command a less price. As soon as the peaches on 

 the trays are no longer mushy the trays should at once 

 be stacked, the curing from this time on taking place 

 in the shade. This not only conserves the weight of the 

 peaches but makes a far better dried product. After 

 the peaches are cured they are scraped off the trays 

 with wooden paddles into sweat boxes for delivery to the 

 packing house. It takes from ten to twelve days, de- 

 pending on the weather, to dry peaches. 



In the last analysis it presents the finality in the in- 

 dustry, for all the fruit is cared for and there is no 

 wastage. There has been more or less prejudice to dried 

 peaches due to their fuzzy skin. This has been over- 

 come now by a process for which the Lovell and Muir 

 seem to have a decided advantage, by removing the 

 peel by a recent invention even after the fruit is dried. 

 That the consuming public appreciates this grade of 

 fruit is demonstrated by the high prices which dried 

 peeled peaches sell for in the market. 



As a matter of fact the orchardist at a very small 

 additional expense could easily do this himself. All 

 that is necessary after the peaches have been halved, 

 regardless of variety, is to immerse the fruit in a hot lye 

 water maintained at a temperature of 200 degrees 

 Fahrenheit for one minute. Dissolve one pound of 

 lye in ten gallons of water. The peaches after being 

 given the lye dip are then immersed in a tank of cold 

 water, which not only removes every vestige of lye but 

 causes the skins to slough off. It will pay the owners of 

 large orchards to purchase a lye-dipping machine such 

 as is used in the canneries and known as a "Grass- 

 hopper" for this purpose. The machine is not very ex- 

 pensive and would more than pay for itself in a single 

 season. 



Conditions may arise, through a failure to thin prop- 

 erly or because the orchard is not in a thrifty condition, 

 where many peaches may run undersized. In the case 

 of Freestones the peaches may be halved, although the 

 expense is quite heavy. With Clings it is not practi- 

 cable to do this, and it is not at all uncommon to have 

 thousands of tons of fruit of this character go to waste, 

 rotting on the ground because there seems to be no 

 practical way of handling it. I have made experiments 

 for several years now with such peaches and find they 

 can be dried to good advantage by removing the skins 

 by the lye process. The peaches are dipped into the lye 



