March, !!>]() 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



S7 



In the irrigated orchards of the West, peaches 

 attain large size and fine finish 



have been given to apples and pears. 

 Peaches are quickly killed if the tem- 

 perature falls much below zero. The 

 growers are continually trying to overcome 

 the handicap by carefully developing more 

 and more hardy peaches. A great deal has 

 been already accomplished along this line. 

 The Elbertas — the Wrights — and Russell 

 ■ — and some others as now grown are said 

 to be hardier than they used to be. The 

 first peaches carried west were only remote 

 kin to the fine big luscious article which is 

 now produced. The earlier specimens — 

 small, inclined to be hard, of inferior flavor, 

 were scarcely like the same fruit. [This is 

 an important statement! We know of no 

 case, properly authenticated, of actual 

 increase of hardiness of the same variety — 

 there may be hardier strains or selections; but 

 these are, in fact, new varieties essentially 

 different from the original. — Editors.] 



The orchardist has learned that much 

 can be done to pro- 

 tect the tender peach 

 buds from frosts 

 and nipping winds 



by the judicious . : 



planting of wind- 

 breaks. Lombardy 

 poplars and ever- 

 greens have been 

 used for the purpose. 

 Nut trees too, are 

 thus utilized and pror 

 duce their own mar- 

 ketable crop. 



While in the case 

 of the apple the de- 

 mand is more and 

 morefor the medium- 

 sized, rather than 

 for the tremendous, 

 the public appears 

 to prefer peaches just 9 

 as big as they can be 

 got. Twenty-five 

 cents a peach is not 

 an unusual price; ex- 

 ceptionally fine 

 peaches have found 

 a market at two 

 dollars each. 



Such fruit is exclu- 



man's table. There is, however, nearly always 

 an excellent general market for fine peaches. 

 It is one of the most generally popular of 

 fruits. 



A great variety of peaches is grown in the 

 Northwest. The big yellow-meated Elberta 

 is, perhaps, as popular as any. It does well 

 nearly everywhere; is very prolific; so arc 

 the Crawfords, both the early and late, and 

 the Morris White. Many of the varieties 

 familiar to the eastern farmer are found here 

 in a much finer state of development. 



There was a time when the fruit grower 

 sought sheltered lowlands for his peaches. 

 Experience has taught him that this is a 

 mistake. Peaches as well as apples do better 

 on fairly high land, where they can have free 

 circulation of air. The most thoroughly 

 winter killed peaches I saw last summer 

 were those situated on low land. 



While the grower is obliged to wait five 

 years or more before he can take a profitable 

 crop from his apple trees, he can do so in 

 three years from peach trees. Therefore 

 it is his common practice to set out peach 

 trees as fillers between the apples. These 

 are destined for removal when the apple 

 trees mature. Many feel as does a certain 

 acquaintance of mine who plants his apples 

 and peaches in separate orchards because 

 he does so hate to take out the fine vigorous 

 peach trees while they are still in active 

 bearing. " Every one of those trees is Such 

 a good commercial proposition in itself 

 that I just can't sacrifice it, can't find it in 

 my heart to do it," he admitted. "So I 

 leave them in between the apples, crowding 

 them, making me lose in the long run, by 

 injuring my apple trees. And there are lots 

 more like me," he asserted. "Look around 

 at the orchards and you'll see plenty of peach 



Sively for the rich One of the irrigation flumes in the Northwest orchard lands. The exact time for giving -water varies 



As fillers in the apple orchards peaches pay hand- 

 somely in the early years 



fillers that ought to come out, only the owners 

 hate to do it. It's weak-minded, but it's 

 awfully natural. Now, my best way is to 

 keep the trees separate and trust to small 

 fruits or potatoes for fillers. It doesn't 

 lacerate my feelings to get rid of them at any 

 time." 



How much money do peaches yield? 

 Official returns from peach growers give 

 their receipts per acre from three to six year 

 old trees from $1,000 to $2,580. There 

 are usually about 100 peach trees to the acre. 

 Each acre may be expected to yield from 

 200 to 2000 boxes of fruit, according to the 

 age and condition of the trees. Peaches 

 bring anywhere from 

 .50 to $1 a box or- 

 dinarily. The fruit 

 is often bought on 

 the trees by agents 

 from the commission 

 houses. I heard of 

 one grower who thus 

 received $6.50 a tree 

 for his. Another 

 states that $1,200 an 

 acre from three-year- 

 old peaches is a fair 

 estimate. One man 

 had shipped 3,300 

 boxes from 450 trees. 

 Another had sold 

 4,000 boxes from 3! 

 acres at an average 

 price of .70 a box. 



Well over a million 

 peach trees are grow- 

 ing in Washington 

 alone. More than 

 half of these are in 

 Yakima County. 

 The wonderfully pro- 

 lific orchards of this 

 Yakima Valley are 

 fast making it one of 

 the famous fruit sec- 

 tions of the world. 



