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Soil and Location. 



While a good loam is our ideal soil, we have good orchards on 

 nearly all kinds of soil. We do demand, however, that all peach 

 lands shall be well drained, both as to air and water, and, as moderate 

 elevations tend to furnish both a good air circulation and water 

 drainage, high or elevated lands are preferred. 



Preparation of Soil. 



The ground to receive our baby trees must be well stocked in 

 advance with suitable food to give them a vigorous start. Plowing 

 under clover or other nitrogenous crops, before setting the trees, fur- 

 nishes humus, which is especially valuable in making the ground 

 spongy — capable of holding large quantities of water. 



Varieties. 



The choice of varieties is largely a local matter. Select those 

 which do best in your locality and which supply the demands of your 

 market. The large plantings of peach in Georgia, Texas, etc., have 

 caused us to discard the early varieties, especially the clings. In 

 our section the best commercial orchards include such kinds as the 

 Yellow St. John, Engle's Mammoth, Conklin, Fitzgerald, Elberta, 

 Kalamazoo, New Prolific, Smock and Salway — all yellow varieties. 

 The Champion is one of the leading white kinds, but our market 

 calls for large, high colored, yellow peaches. Such kinds as the 

 Barnard, Crosby and Gold Drop are excellent in quality, but are too 

 small, under ordinary cultivation, to be wanted by our buyers. De- 

 spite its poor quality, the size color and shipping ability of the El- 

 berta makes it the leading market peach. 



Cultivation. 



Our main object being quick and large cash returns, we do our 

 utmost to force a strong, sound growth from the start by intensive 

 cultivation EARLY in the season. Corn has been commonly grown 

 the first two seasons between the trees, it being thought that the loss 

 of fertility occasioned by the feeding of the corn being partly bal- 

 anced by the corn's shade to the trees from the scalding rays of the 

 sun. Later and better practice seems to omit all crops and give all 

 the land to the peach trees. The trees are headed low — not over i8 

 inches from the ground — and this calls for special tools in cultivating. 

 The extension disc harrow and the extension fine tooth drag are 

 some of the best tools after the second year, when the trees are given 

 the whole of the ground. Cultivation must be kept up each week 

 to save soil moisture and make more plant food available, by bringing 

 the small particles of soil in contact with the air. 



Pruning and Thinning. 



Just as a fond parent corrects in his infant child any faults that 

 may appear, so the true lover of trees, from the very first season, 

 rubs off any buds that appear wdiere a limb or twig is not desired. 



