BERLIN, MARYLAND, U. S. A. 29 


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One of our blocks of fine one-year-old peach trees, where about two milliou 
were budded from our fruiting orchard 

Hints on Growing Peaches 
By Senator Orlando Harrison 
‘ N JE started growing peaches as a commercial proposition solely 
to make our nursery business more efficient. We found it 
almost impossible to grow trees in a commercial way in the 
nursery without having an orchard of standard varieties from which 
to cut buds. Therefore we planted four different test-orchards, con- 
taining 100 varieties, 6 trees of each variety. In a few years these 
trees began to bear fruit, and then it became a question of disposing 
of the crop. We soon found that peach-growing on the Peninsula was 
profitable, and, as a result, we increased our orchard plantings year 
by year, until at the present time we have something over I,000 acres 
in fruit trees, about equally divided between peaches and apples. 
We find that the white varieties, Carman, Hiley, Ray, and Belle 
of Georgia, do better on light and sandy soil, but the Belle of Georgia 
must be severely pruned or thinned. We have found the Ray ex- 
ceedingly profitable when planted on poor, sandy soil; it is a heavy 
yielder and has brought us more money than any peach we have had. 
Carman has made considerable money for us, and we have sold 
many a crop at $2.50 for a six-gallon carrier, f. o. b.,; for No. t's and 
No. 2’s about a dollar less. Champion is a desirable variety, but it 
takes a real fruit-grower to get a crop; the variety is rich, excellent 
quality, but has a thin skin, and requires much spraying. 
On the young trees we cut back from one-quarter to one-half of 
the growth the previous year. On trees that are from ten to fifteen 
years of age, we cut out all dead wood and then thin them; sometimes 
they make only about 4 inches of growth, but we have found this to 
be satisfactory on old trees. 
All that has been said about planting trees in general and about 
planting apple trees in particular, applies to peach-tree planting. The 
soil must receive treatment which will give the trees sufficient moist- 
ure, a valuable plant-food, and fine soil in which the roots may be fed. 
It is important to keep the trees in a thrifty, growing condition, as 
the fruit is borne only on wood a year old, which means that the new 
wood grown this year is the productive wood next year. 
Orchardists sometimes have to contend with the peach borers which 
are soft, yellowish worms with a reddish brown head. You can 
locate the borer by the dust on the surface of the soil, by blackened 
spots on the bark, or by the gum that comes from the hole. Remove 
the earth from the bottom of the base of the trees, then cut around 
the worm-hole with a sharp knife, and if you do not find the worm 
under the bark, run a wire up and down the hole, which will at once 
destroy the borer. The trees should be examined twice a year, during 
April and October, giving particular attention to trees that are under 
eight years old. The various remedies for leaf insects and fungous 
diseases which sometimes attack the peach are covered in the spray- 
ing-table shown on page 10, 
