IV 



THE PEACH 



(Prunus Persica) 



In relative importance as a money crop and as a 

 home fruit the peach stands next to the apple in the 

 United States and its importance is gaining more and 

 more as we become more skillful in caring for it. Our 

 ideas as to the best part of the country in which this 

 most luscious fruit will grow have undergone a great 

 change in a few years past, for, instead of thinking 

 that it will grow only in certain favored localities, we 

 now find it succeeding in almost every part of the coun- 

 try from Canada to Mexico, and large areas are being 

 planted where it was supposed a few years ago that the 

 peach could not be profitably grown. 



The peach is a native of Southern Asia and China, 

 but the trees grow equally well in proper soiHn Canada 

 as in Texas, though the fruit buds are not hardy where 

 the temperature remains lower than eighteen below zero 

 for more than a few hours at a time. To grow the 

 trees so that they shall withstand the changes of our 

 climate in the northern parts of the United States, 

 it is necessary to plant on high elevations, in rather 

 light soil and in full exposure to air and sunlight. To 

 reach its greatest perfection the fruit must be ripened 

 on the trees, and with the modern facilities for trans- 

 portation in refrigerator cars it may be allowed to 

 become nearly ripe and yet be carried a long distance 

 to market. It is best, however, in this business to give 

 the greatest attention to the local market, for the best 



