CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE PEACH. 



THE PEACH, when in perfection the most delicious fruit of 

 our climate, succeeds in favorable localities, from Maine to 

 the Gulf of Mexico. In the more northern regions, the ripen- 

 ing of the earlier varieties commences only a few weeks before 

 the close of the summer months ; in the extreme South, well- 

 matured peaches are obtained nearly as early as cherries and 

 strawberries at the North. 



The trees are more tender and of shorter duration than most 

 fruit trees of temperate climates. In some localities they 

 bear only two or three good crops, and then decline or perish. 

 On favorable soils they continue for twenty or thirty years. 

 In Western New York trees have in rare instances borne fruit 

 for forty or fifty years. In France, according to authentic 

 testimony, peach-trees which have been annually and freely 

 pruned have lived to an age of one hundred years ; and there 

 is no doubt that on favorable soils, and by a regular shorten- 

 ing-in pruning, most of our orchards would endure much 

 longer than the ordinary period. 



The most extensive peach-growing regions are in New Jer- 

 sey, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, Southern Illinois, Michigan, 

 California, thousands of acres being occupied with the planta- 

 tions of single proprietors. The northern portions of Ohio and 

 Western New York, protected on the north by Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario, and Western Michigan, afford a very favorable climate 

 for this fruit. But throughout the country at large, the selec- 

 tion of proper localities would doubtless afford good and regu- 

 lar crops, even in districts where its culture is rarely attempted. 

 The remarks on this subject in a previous chapter of this work 

 are particularly commended to the attention of those who may 

 attempt the peach culture in severe climates. 



464 



