CHAPTER XI 



STONE FRUITS PEACHES, PLUMS, AND 

 CHERRIES 



Peaches. --The production of peaches is attended with 

 greater risk than that of most other fruits. The peach 

 is tender in bud and therefore very susceptible to severe 

 freezing during the winter and to late freezes following a 

 prolonged warm spell in the early spring. Late frosts while 

 the trees are in blossom ruin many crops. In the Northern 

 States the peach-growing areas lie near large bodies of 

 water where the temperature is considerably moderated 

 by the water. 



It is important to select sites that have good soil drain- 

 age and air drainage. On high ridges, ideal sites are found. 

 Usually a sandy loam soil is desired, although excellent 

 crops are also produced upon clay soils. A clover sod 

 that has been previously manured and plowed under is 

 good for a peach orchard. The trees should be planted 

 early in the spring rather than in the fall, as there is danger 

 of winter injury to fall plantings. The trees are set from 

 twenty to twenty-five feet apart and even at this distance 

 heading in and shortening the branches is frequently neces- 

 sary, after the trees come into bearing, to permit space for 

 spraying, cultivation, and maintaining the orchard. 



Planting. -- The following general rules should be ob- 

 served in planting peach trees : 



T. Preserve as many of the fibrous roots as possible. 



310 



