CHAPTER VII. 



THE PEACH. 



THOUGH indigenous to a warm climate, the 

 peach is cultivated in nearly every State of our 

 Union. It is found, however, that a temperature 

 of 16 is pretty certain to kill the fruit buds. 

 The same results follow a much less extreme, 

 under some conditions, especially if the buds 

 have been excited by a warm winter sun. A 

 warm, protected sunny corner, or hill-side, is 

 therefore objectionable, as likely to induce a 

 premature excitement of the sap. Low grounds 

 are subject to the extreme of cold. Hence it 

 follows that high land, not to the degree of 

 bleakness, is best. In many instances, northern 

 slopes, which preserve a uniformly cold tempera- 

 ture, have been favorable, when warmer sites 

 have failed. It has been found that a mulch of 

 some non-conductor of heat, like shavings, ap- 

 plied in the latter part of winter, will retain the 

 frost in the ground, and thus retard the sap and 

 secure a crop. 



