' 436 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



or 18° below zero in New York; but if the buds once become swollen, 

 comparatively light freezing will destroy the crop. Therefore, if the 

 trees be set on elevations where a constant air drainage may be ob- 

 tained, sheltered, if at all, on the south and east from the warming 

 influence of the sun, the buds will remain dormant until the ground 

 becomes warm, and the chances of a failure will be lessened. This 

 advice applies mostly to interior sections. 



A well-drained, sandy loam or gravelly soil suits the peach better 

 than a heavy soil; but if the heavier soil is well drained, good crops 

 may be secured. 



Peaches are short-lived at best, and one should be satisfied with 

 three or four crops from each tree. They bear young, usually a partial 

 crop the third year. If a crop may be had every other year until the 

 trees are eight or ten years old, they will have well repaid the effort 

 of cultivation. But they often bear twice this long. Young trees 

 may be set every four or five years to replace older ones, thus having 

 trees at a bearing age at all times on a small place. Trees should be 

 set 14 to 18 feet apart each way. 



Peach trees are always bought when they are one year old, that is, 

 one year from the bud. For example, the bud is inserted in the fall 

 of 1909- It remains dormant until the spring of 1910, when it pushes 

 into vigorous growth; and in the fall of 1910 the tree is ready for sale. 

 Peach trees that are more than a year old are scarcely worth the buy- 

 ing. It is a common practice, when setting peach trees, to prune them 

 back to a whip, leaving a stub bearing not more than one bud where 

 each branch is cut off. 



The three great enemies of the peach are the borer, the yellows, 

 and the curculio. 



The borer is best handled by digging it out every spring and fall. 

 Trees attacked by the borer have an exudation of gum about the 

 crown. If the borers are dug out twice a year, they will not get 

 sufficient start to make the operation very laborious. It is the only 

 sure way (p. 200). 



The yellows is a communicable disease, the cause of which is not 

 definitely known. It shows itself in the fruit ripening prematurely, 

 with distinct red spots which extend through the flesh, and later by 

 the throwing out of fine, branching, twiggy tufts along the main 



