DECIDUOUS FRUITS 185 



Yellows and rosette are serious diseases of the peach for 

 which no remedy is known. Curl-leaf is a fungus controllable 

 by the application of bordeaux mixture or lime-sulfur solu- 

 tion very early in the spring ten to fifteen days before the 

 bursting of the buds. 



The three most common insect enemies are the peach-tree 

 borer, the San Jose scale, and the curculio. The first is the 

 most difficult to eradicate. The scale is controlled by spray- 

 ing, and the curculio by clean cultivation, collecting and 

 destroying the insects, and by spraying. (See Chapter XVI.) 



Choice of varieties of peaches depends primarily on market 

 and climate; quality of fruit and resistance of the tree to 

 disease are also factors of. importance. In most localities 

 growers select from three to five varieties that are suited to 

 local needs, and whose time of ripening is such that the work 

 of picking is distributed through as long a period as possible. 

 This enables the grower to handle the picking problem with 

 a minimum loss of fruit. Most peach varieties are self -fertile. 



The peach is propagated almost entirely by budding. 



279. The nectarine is really a smooth-skinned peach. 

 Many varieties have long been grown in Asia. Nectarines 

 have been known to arise from peach trees as bud-sports. 

 It is a fine fruit but is not grown commercially to the extent 

 it deserves. Cultural methods are the same as for the peach. 



280. The apricot is probably a native of China or Japan. 

 The Persians named this fruit the "Seed of the sun." The 

 apricot was introduced into England in the early part of the 

 sixteenth century. It is a popular garden fruit in some special 

 locations in eastern United States, and even in the milder 

 parts of the Canadian lake region. Owing to its early blos- 

 soming habit, spring frosts limit its production to specially 

 favored localities. California produces practically the entire 

 commercial apricot crop of North America. 



The fruit resembles a small peach somewhat and has a pit 

 similar in shape to that of the wild plum. The apricot is 



