264 THE STONE FRUITS 



Soil. — The opinion is current that the peach should be 

 planted on a sandy soil or some type of the lighter soils. 

 While excellent peaches are often grown on this type of soil it 

 does not necessarily follow that the peach cannot be success- 

 fully grown on heavier types of soil. The peach will do well 

 on a wide range of soils, including even some of the moder- 

 ately heavy clay loams. To say that any particular type of 

 soil could be most profitable for the peach is impossible. 

 Profitable crops are grown upon the lightest sands and the 

 heaviest clays, and each soil produces a characteristic tj'pe 

 and quality of fruit. 



The soil which is selected should be well-drained whatever 

 the t}'pe is. The peach will not thrive on poorly drained 

 soils. The soils that are hard and impervious to water miust 

 be avoided. They should be moderately fertile. A soil rich 

 in nitrogen is not so desirable because it produces too much 

 foliage, but it should not lack plant food in such quantities as 

 to stunt the growth of the tree. The soils in which alkali occurs 

 should be avoided because they never grow good peaches. 



Site. — The site of a peach orchard is equally as important 

 as the soil. The peach is very tender and great care must 

 be exercised in order to keep it from being frozen. As a 

 general proposition a site that is elevated considerably above 

 the surrounding country or that is adjacent to a large body 

 of water is preferable for a peach orchard. Cold air always 

 settles to the lower places, and for that reason it is often colder 

 at the lower elevations than it is at the higher points in the 

 same localit^^ A large body of water also influences the 

 climate to a great extent. It prevents the warming up of the 

 atmosphere in the immediate ^'icinity of the water and thus 

 holds back the vegetation until the danger of frost is past 

 and also delays the frost in the fall in a similar manner. 

 The influence of the water is probably only felt for several 

 miles, although the elevation has a great deal to do with the 

 extent of the influence of the water. 



Planting. — The ideal preparation of the soil for the peach 

 tree consists in deep plowing and the thorough pulverization. 

 Equally as good a preparation should be given to the land 

 as if corn were to be planted. 



