PEACH. 



211 



bending the trees to the ground in winter and covering the tops 

 with corn stalks, marsh hay or similar material. The wood of 

 the peach is exceedingly brittle but the roots are very tough 

 and the trees are bent in the roots by digging a hole at the 

 side of the tree deep enough to reach the pliable portion of the 

 root. Forked roots are preferred on peach trees that are des- 

 tined to be treated in this way, as their roots are smaller, and 

 hence do not get stiff as quickly as these grown to one central 

 shoot. 



Origin. The peach is native of Asia, but was introduced 

 into America at a very early date, and in the last century was 

 spontaneous over a large area of country in the mountainous 



section of the Southern 

 states. While there are 

 many forms of the peach, 

 they are all classed as 

 coming from the same spe- 

 cies, Prunus persica. Pro- 

 fessor R. H. Price, in the 

 report of the American 

 Pomological Society for 

 1903, classifies the various 

 kinds of peaches under 

 five heads, although he 

 says that some varieties 

 cannot be placed in either, 

 and that the practical ap- 

 plication of this classifica- 

 tion lies in the fact that 

 the grower should not be 

 concerned so much about 

 what varieties he has as 

 about having the varieties 

 he plants of the proper 

 group for his location. The 

 Fig. 98 -Protecting peach trees. Peach following classification is 

 Wh e iuen e ) red WUh C rn StalkS ' (Aftei> taken from this article: 



