230 Soils and Exposures for the Peach. 
do well by protecting the trees from harsh winds, and by seek- 
ing elevation above depressed valleys, whose frosts are frequent. 
The occurrence of curl-leaf is a factor of much importance, 
which will be considered presently. In the coast counties north 
of San Francisco Bay the danger to the peach from unfavorable 
atmospheric conditions increases as one goes northward, and 
situations must be chosen with greater care. And yet by such 
exercise of care, peaches for home use and local markets can be 
successfully grown. 
South of San Francisco Bay the coast influences soften as 
you proceed southward, and the peach draws nearer to the ocean, 
choosing, however, elevations, and avoiding broad, wind-swept 
areas and narrow defiles where drafts and fogs are frequent. At 
considerable elevations, as on the Santa Cruz Mountains, some 
varieties of peaches are notably excellent. The general rule 
holds with the peach, as with other fruits, that coast influences 
retard ripening and the season of the fruit is late. 
In the valleys and at elevations in southern California the 
peach is largely grown and high excellence attained. 
SOILS “AND EXPOSURES FOR THE PEACH. 
Though the range of soils for the peach can be somewhat 
extended by the choice of stock for budding upon, as will be 
considered presently, its range is narrower that that of the 
apricot. The best peach soils are light, deep, sandy loams, 
rather dry than moist, but under all circumstances well drained. 
It will thrive on land with a considerable mixture of coarse sand 
or gravel, providing it contain also needed elements of fertility; 
for the rapid growth and heavy fruitage of the peach requires 
abundant nutrition. Though it accepts coarse materials both in 
soil and subsoil, it relishes fine sediment and perhaps finds no 
more congenial location than in the deep, sandy loam, or sedi- 
mentary deposit bordering the creek beds of our warm valleys, 
and will send its roots deep to secure long life and abundant 
fruitage. Such soils, whether along existing streams or de- 
posited by prehistoric water courses, which have left their mark 
by the elevated ridges of rich sediment above the prevailing 
valley soils, are warm, deep, and thoroughly drained, and delight 
the peach. 
At elevations on the hillsides there are free loams which 
result from decomposition of the underlying rocks, and on them 
the peach thrives, both where the soils themselves are deep and 
where the underlying rock is loose and open, permeable by roots 
and affording escape for water. Success has been reported-even 
when holes are partly excavated in these rotten rocks, as in the 
soft sand rock on the hills east of Vaca Valley, or in the broken 
chalk rock in what is called Blackburn Gulch, near Santa Cruz. 
