35 



no time to mature the crop and prepare the buds for the following 

 year. Thinning the fruit should be done after the June drop. 



The peach borer can easily be controlled by removing the soil from 

 around the trunk, and extract the borers with pocket-knife or some 

 pointed iron. The peach borer does not cut wood like the apple, 

 but feeds on the Cambium layer, and if taken before he gets down 

 in the roots, can be easily destroyed. 



Spraying for scale and fungus diseases must be carefully and 

 thoroughly done in early spring, before the blossoms open. Lime 

 and sulphur is the most satisfactory material, known at the present 

 time, for both the scale and fungi. 



In my 28 years' experience as a peach grower I have yet to 

 learn what crop to grow in a bearing peach orchard that is not 

 grown at the expense of the peach crop. Frequently I am asked 

 w^hat crop can be grown in a peach orchard, when bearing ; and my 

 answer is always a Peach Crop. The disease known as ''Yellows," 

 among peach trees is first noticed in the premature ripening of the 

 fruit. 



Then follows the wiry growth on branches generally in clus- 

 ters, with very narrow foliage. The word "Yellows" does not in- 

 dicate that a tree with yellow leaves has taken this disease, as a 

 tree may not have proper nourishment or may be attacked by 

 borers which cause the foliage to turn yellow ; and such trees will 

 respond very readily if proper treatment given. 



And again, a tree with the most vigorous foliage, dark green, 

 may premature it fruit and fully develope the disease. The only 

 way I know to hold this disease in check is to remove the tree and 

 burn on the spot. 



It was frequently stated a few years ago that the peach business 

 would fall in the hands of specialists, and I really believed it myself, 

 but I have changed my mind. Since the San Jose scale has made 

 it appearance in sufficient numbers to destroy those orchards planted 

 by the negligent fellows, they are not in business. Only the stand- 

 pat fellows are in the peach business to-day, and they are here to 

 stay. The Syndicate or incorporated orchard companies must learn 

 that they are carrying on their business with disinterested help, and 

 to have thousands of acres of orchards will necessitate them spread- 

 ing labor over too large an acreage and the result is slighted work 

 going on all the time. 



The fruit business is different from factory work — where one 

 foreman can stand over hundreds of hands and control them suc- 

 cessfully. The biggest mistake I ever made was when I increased 

 my peach business until at one time I had between 43 and 44 thou- 

 sand trees in cultivation and it was impossible for me to have the 

 fruit picked and packed in proper shape ; and I found that I had to 

 reduce my acreage in order to have the fruit right for the con- 

 sumers. 



You see, someone had told me to be sure that I was right and 

 then go ahead ; well, I started to grow more peaches to get more 

 money to buy more land to plant more trees to get more money 

 to buy more land to grow more peaches ; and that is the way I got 

 inio tlie business so extensively. j\Iy neighbors who had onlv small 



