94 



and he thus forms a correct head. A common mistake is to leave 

 the forming of the head of the tree until it is three or four years old, 

 when good-sized limbs must be cut off, leaving large scars that are 

 hard to heal and which often leave a weakness. Allowing unneces- 

 sary limbs to grow is also a great waste of plant energy. In fact, 

 our former methods of horticulture seem to have been based upon 

 the principles of forestry rather than upon those of fruit production. 

 The engineer who would attempt to run a ten horse-power engine 

 with a five horse-power iDoiler would be no more lacking in judgment 

 than is the fruit grower who permits his tree to over-balance the root 

 system that is called upon to sustain it. Build up that root system 

 by continuous and intelligent feeding and then restrict the labor of 

 the tree by severe and annual pruning and thinning. Prune so as to 

 open the tops, so that God's free sunshine may reach all of the fruit 

 and so paint upon their cheeks those beautiful colors, which are so ea- 

 gerly sought after by the purchasers of our products. We prune 

 our bearing orchards during the dormant period, preferably in 

 March, after the hardest freezes are over. Many get good results 

 by spring or even summer pruning, and one of the most profitable 

 orchards I have ever seen has always been pruned in the fall. How- 

 ever, I am inclined to attribute the fine results in the latter case to 

 the severity of the pruning, rather than to the time when it was done. 

 Much of the thinning can be done by severe pruning, but even after 

 that has been done the expense of picking off the surplus peaches by 

 hand will often be considerable. This thinning is essential and must 

 be done before the pit hardens. The production of seed is a most 

 exhaustive process and the trees must be given all possible relief by 

 reducing the number of fruits. Stronger and longer lived trees, 

 larger sized fruits and doubled profits will thereby result. 



Diseases and Insects. 



Curl leaf develops during cool, moist weather, but a thorough 

 spraying of the dormant trees in March with a solution of two pounds 

 of copper sulphate (blue vitriol) to fifty gallons of water is a sure 

 preventive. Since we have been using Lime Sulphur to destroy the 

 San Jose scale on our trees, we find that it is equally as effective in 

 controlling the leaf curl. ''Yellows" and "Little Peach" are deadly 

 diseases of unknown origin. There is no known cure and the only 

 safe course is to cut down and destroy by fire all diseased trees as 

 soon as discovered. These diseases can only in that way be held in 

 check, but "experimenting" with these diseases has cost many a 

 grower his entire orchard. The annual "grubbing" of the base of the 

 trees, to destroy the borer, is also necessary — sometimes twice in the 

 season. Many a sick looking peach tree will upon examination be 

 found to be nearly girdled by the peach borer, whose work can be 

 discovered by the gummy substance that exudes from the injured 

 roots. Mounding the earth up around the base of the tree and then 

 removing the earth after the period of egg laying has passed, is a 

 method of some value and many report good results from applying 

 gas tar to the base of the tree, thus shutting out the borer. The 

 plum curcuHo is often quite destructive to the peach, but clean culti- 

 vation will generally destroy the pupa. 



