8o 



Thinning often seems like a waste of fruit, but the specimens left 

 on the tree will be of much larger size, and this becomes especially 

 important when there is a large crop and prices are low except for 

 the best grades. 



Fig. 7 illustrates average fruits taken from thinned and un- 

 thinned Greensboro trees a season when prices were not very high. 

 The large fruit at the right in Fig. 7 sold readily but the small sized 

 fruit from the unthinned trees at the left was hard to move. Un- 

 questionably, thinning is an important part of the peach business. 

 Fruit properly thinned, especially the Elberta, will nearly all pack 

 into the same grade. I have seen lots of Elbertas packed in New 

 Jersey and some in Georgia, where at least 75 per cent, of the fruit 

 would all go into one grade. 



I hope that few of you have trouble with peach scab in this 

 vicinity. We know that this can be controlled by proper spraying 

 with self-boiled lime-sulphur. Wherever there is scab there is 

 likely to be considerable brown rot also, and this of course adds to 

 the number of culls on the packing table. 



The following system of summer spraying is now generally 

 practiced by successful growers in southern JsTew Jersey. Arsenate 

 of lead, 3 pounds to 50 gallons of water, just as the petals fall. A 

 second spraying of arsenate of lead and self-boiled lime-sulphur is 

 given just as the calyx is being shed from the fruit. Where there 

 is much injury by curculio, the first spraying is quite important, for 

 as soon as the peach reaches the size of a large green pea so that 

 the calyx begins to come off, the curculio begins to feed. On 

 varieties like Greensboro, that ripen early, two sprayings of self- 

 boiled lime-sulphur three weeks apart are generally sufficient, but 

 mid-season and late varieties should have at least three sprayings to 

 prevent scab and rot. 



I took the opportunity this summer to visit the peach section 

 of Fort Valley, Ga. I thought no better section could be selected 

 to observe methods of packing and shipping. I was entertained by 

 Mr. J. H. Hale and had a most pleasant and profitable trip. The 

 land about Fort Valley is generally flat and easily cultivated. From 

 my observations this valley appears to be the garden spot of 

 Georgia. 



In the Fort Valley district a spur track is run out from Fort 

 Valley to the large orchards and iced cars are delivered right at the 

 packing houses. I found the general cultural and orchard manage- 

 ment conditions there about the same as elsewhere. There are 

 growers who fail to adopt the best methods, just as in other peach 

 districts. There are growers about Fort Valley who fail to appre- 

 ciate the importance of summer spraying, and in one large orchard 

 which I saw, the fruit was badly scabbed and rotting rapidly. The 

 weather conditions in the south this year were very favorable to rot, 

 and this accounts for the fact that at times the market was very un- 

 satisfactory, because much of the fruit would not stand up after it 

 reached the dealer. 



