AND ITS DISEASE. 63 



can be used for the gross system of culture, which 

 has its distinguished advocates ;*but I find none 

 .among extensive peach growers who break the 

 soil yearly. 



It has always been remarked that quality, and not 

 quantity, is what is wanted. My observation has 

 been that beauty outranks quantity, in the fruit 

 market, at least. To present that requisite in more 

 than its natural attraction, I would recommend 

 an occasional manuring of the ground around the 

 tree with amrnoniacal manures, such as guano, 

 poudrette, and with charcoal, which is a heavy ab- 

 sorbent of ammonia. These elements, through 

 their ammonia, will impart to the peach an inten- 

 sity to that peculiar rich, deep mellow red color, 

 known to no other fruit, giving it its great beauty 

 over all others; and in addition to this, these am- 

 moniacal elements are,in their effects, highly enrich- 

 ing to the soil, as we are all aware, and as strong 

 alkalies act as remedial agents against the "yel- 

 lows." The expense of fertilizers for the culture 

 of the peach is much less than for any other crop 

 on the farm. My practice was to a considerable 

 extent to plant apple orchards in the grounds oc- 

 cupied in peach trees. The trees are cultivated to- 

 gether, and the fertilizers of the one are adapted to 

 the other, and in some six or eight years the ap- 

 ples will begin to bear, and there will be but little 

 interference, the apple trees being planted in rows 

 22x36, the peach trees 16x18. My large orchards 



