98 FRUIT GARDEN. 
mould, and there left to form sprouts, which are taken from 
the stones and planted in rows. After the first summer’s 
growth, they are budded in August and September. Early 
the succeeding spring, those in which the operation has suc- 
ceeded have the old wood cut down close above the new 
bud, which will shoot up in the course of the season, from 
three to nine feet high, with numerous side-branches. In 
some of the Western States, we are informed, it is com- 
mon to plant the stones in November, and bud the growth 
the following June, head down in July, and thus secure a 
growth of four or six feet within one year from the planting 
of the stone. When budding is performed on the plum 
stock, they will, it is said, live for half a century, and be 
free from the attacks of the worm, which is so apt to de- 
stroy the tree by its excavations into the bark immediately 
below the crown of the root. In poor, sandy soils, or 
gravelly subsoils, the tree is very short-lived, seldom bear- 
ing more than one or two crops before becoming sickly, and 
dying with what is commonly called the yellows. A light 
elay loam is the most favorable soil for the peach-tree, and 
this must be kept rich, or otherwise the trees will soon ex- 
haust the fertility of the ground, and perish from the yel- 
Zows. Although a clay subsoil, retentive of moisture, is so 
congenial to the peach-tree, a little excess of moisture is 
very prejudicial. A happy medium, neither too dry nor 
too moist, is the great desideratum. 
Planting Out.—The ground intended for peach orchards 
should be ploughed as deeply as possible, and made fine by 
subsequent harrowing. If well manured the previous year, 
all the better. The trees, which should be one year old, 
counting from the budding, are to be placed not nearer 
than twenty feet apart, which makes one hundred and eight 
to the acre: on strong land, where they would attain to 
