180 RURAL AEW YORK 



either side of the river witliin five miles. The west 

 shore opposite Poughkeepsie is most heavily planted. 



The acreage has increased rapidly in the last ten 

 years but had been nearly stationary for the preced- 

 ing twenty years. The increase is shown by the pro- 

 portion of trees below bearing age. In 1909 there 

 were nearly as many trees below bearing age as were 

 producing crops. Since the trees should live for 

 twelve to fifteen years, this indicates a large increase. 

 However, the very cold winter of 1917-18 killed 

 many trees and correspondingly reduced the imme- 

 diate prospects for large crops of peaches. The El- 

 berta and the Early Crawford are the most satisfac- 

 tory varieties for market, the former for the late 

 season, the latter for the early season. In western 

 New York, says Anderson, over half the plantings 

 are of Elberta. 



The peach crop experiences extremes in yield and 

 market returns. No-crop years have been succeeded 

 by seasons of over-production with slaughter prices. 



The acreage and value of pears approaches that of 

 peaches and in 1917 was reported at 41,000 acres. 

 The regions of commercial production are the same 

 as for peaches but pears reach out further from the 

 influence of bodies of water, and as a rule are put on 

 much heavier soils. The loam and clay loam types of 

 the corresponding series used for peaches are em- 

 ployed for pears, and while important, lack of drain- 

 age is less critical than for peaches. The statistics 

 appear to indicate a marked increase in acreage in 



