22 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



Their growing seems to be naturally limited in Hokkaido to the south part 

 up to about 43 degrees N. L. The midseason and late varieties do not 

 properly ripen there and peach growing consequently does not develop to 

 be a profitable industry- in Hokkaido. Peaches are rather easy to culti- 

 vate and seem to be less susceptible to the effects of climate, than apples, 

 provided suitable sites and soil be given. Consequently peach orchards 

 are found scattered here and there all over the country. For the peaches 

 there is no difference between the two longitudinal halves of Japan. At 

 present, large orchards of peaches, regularly planted and trained, are 

 found on the alluvial lowlands and hillsides. The heavy rainfall during 

 June and July causes an overluxuriance of gro\\i;h and considerable portion 

 of the fruits drop down without reaching maturity. To prevent the damage 

 from the parasites our people have learned through experience the impor- 

 tant operation of bagging. On the loamy soils, good qualities of fruits 

 may be attained, but the growers are accustomed to prefer light sandy soils 

 to insure success. Sometimes rather dry hillsides give good results." 



The peach in Turkestan and Persia. — We shall become too deeply 

 involved if we attempt to trace the cultivation of peaches in all of the 

 countries of Asia. A sentence each suffices for other regions than China 

 and Japan, excepting Turkestan, where the peach seems preeminently at 

 home, and must therefore have more than a word. 



The peach is commonly grown in Mongolia and Cochin China.' Several 

 kinds of peaches are cultivated in the north of India.- The peach requires 

 the greatest care to ensure success in the north-east of India. ^ A cor- 

 respondent of the United States Department of Agriculture at Kashgar, 

 British India, describes a nectarine grown there wanting " a hot but only 

 a short summer." "• Meyer, Agricultural Explorer for the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, found a variety of peach growing at Kirin, 

 Mongolia, not far from Vladivostock, which he says " is the most northern 

 locality where I have yet found peaches."^ These references might be 

 multiplied but enough are given to show that the peach grows wild or 

 cultivated wherever the climate permits in central and eastern Asia. 



The peach seems to be quite as much at home, as highly prized and as 

 commonly grown in Russian Turkestan, northern Persia, Trans-Caucasia 

 and Asia Minor — the countries of western Asia — as in the eastern part 



' Loureiro, Fl. Cochin. 315. 



' Royle, Illusl. Bot. Himal. 204. 



» Hooker, Sir Joseph, .four, of Bot. 54. 1850. 



* Hendricks, P. J. P. V. .S. D. A. Bur. PI. hid. Bid. 97:72. 1905. 



5 Meyer, F. W. V. S. D. .4. Bur. PI. hid. Bui. 132:80. 190S. 



