X U li S E K Y M E X— O K C H A K D I S T S 



29 



Pencil Trees- -Graded, Ready to 

 Pack and Ship 



Hints on Growing Peaches 



By Senator Orlando Harrison 



WE started growing peach- 

 es as a commercial propo- 

 sition solely to make our 

 nursery business more efficient. 

 We found it almost impossible to 

 grow trees in a commercial way 

 in the nursery without havin;; 

 an orchard of standard varieties 

 from which to cut buds. There- 

 fore, we planted four different 

 test-orchards, containing 100 va- 

 rieties, G 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 in- 

 creased our orchard plantings 

 year by year, until at the pn-s- 

 ent time we have something ovf-r 

 1000 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 exceedingly 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.o0 for a six-gallon carrier f. o. b. ; for No. I'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 

 ])]anting apple trees in particular applies to peach-tree planting. 

 The soil must receive treatment which will give the trees suffi- 

 cient moisture, 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 produc- 

 tive 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 wonn 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 partic- 

 ular attention to trees that are under eight years old. The vari- 

 ous remedies for leaf insects and fungous diseases which some- 

 times attack the peach are covered in the spraying table shown 

 on page 9. 



In our practice we have found that the regular six-basket car- 

 riers are the most practical way of packing and shipping fruit. 

 In this package the peaches ship well, arrive in good order and 

 are so attractive that they bring a good price at even a low mar- 

 ket. Another good package is the standard bushel basket, with 

 corrugated cover. Can be easily packed in car three-tier high. 



