172 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



above named answer an excellent purpose. We have enume- 

 rated a larger variety of plums from the difficulty in our 

 northern climates generally, of cultivating the peach, which 

 ripens nearly at the same time, and although not so delicious 

 a fruit, the plum is a valuable substitute for it. It is a more 

 durable tree though liable to several diseases, and its cultiva- 

 tion is comparatively easy. 



THE PEACH. 



This fruit on virgin soils and in the early settlement of our 

 country, was one of the easiest of propagation and most abund- 

 ant in its bearing, but it is now the most uncertain in its ma- 

 turity and the shortest lived of all. So liable is it to casual- 

 ties as to have become almost entirely discarded in large 

 sections of the United States, where it once flourished in the 

 highest perfection. It is now generally reared on an extensive 

 scale for market by those who make it an exclusive business. 



Its FAVORITE SOIL is a light, warm, sandy or gravelly 

 loam, in a sunny exposure, protected from severe bleak winds. 

 Thus situated and in favorable latitudes, it often flourishes in 

 luxuriance and produces the most luscious fruit. In Western 

 New- York and on most of the Southern borders of the great 

 Lakes the peach grows more vigorously and lives longer than 

 in any other sections of the United States, frequently lasting 

 20 or 30 years, and bearing constantly and in abundance. 

 Peaches are produced in immense quantities in the States of 

 New Jersey and Delaware, on the light soils near the Atlan- 

 tic coast for the large city markets, and in those states the 

 crop of a single proprietor often amounts to $5000, and 

 sometimes exceeds $20,000 annually. None but the choi- 

 cest kinds are cultivated, and these are inoculated into the 

 seedling when a year old. They are transplanted at two and 

 three, and are worn out, cut down and burned at the age of 

 from six to twelve years. The proper distance at which they 

 should be planted is sixteen to twenty feet apart, according to 

 situation, soil and exposure. Constant cultivation of the 

 ground is necessary for their best growth and bearing. 



DISEASES. It is liable to many diseases and to the depre- 

 dations of numerous enemies. The Yellows is its most fatal 

 disease, and this can only be checked by the immediate remo- 

 val of the diseased tree from the orchard. Of the Insects, the 

 grub or peach worm is the most destructive. It punctures 

 the bark, and lays its egg beneath it at the surface of the 

 earth, and when discovered it should be killed with a pen- 



