PEACH CULTURE. 



WITH PARTICULAR REFEREN' 



Clean cultivation, abundant fertilizing, thinning 

 of fruit, warfare against insects and yellows, hon- 

 est and tasteful marketing — these are the prime 

 essentials to successful peach culture. These mean 

 labor, expense, and vigilance. Comparatively few 

 are willing to prosecute these requisites into de- 

 tails, and for this reason the industry is profitable 

 to those who overcome. 



The best peach lands are light or even sandy 

 lands. Upon such lands the trees ripen their wood 

 well and early, and they are uniformly productive. 

 But light land does not mean poor land. The land 

 must be enriched. Many manures are good. Sta- 

 ble manure is best when it can be had. It is ap- 

 plied liberally broadcast and is plowed or harrow- 

 ed in. Ashes are good, but the quality of the pur- 

 chased lots is variable and is often low. 30 or 40 

 bushels to the acre of unleached ashes is a com- 

 mon dressing. Chemicals are always good if they 

 are used intelligently, but their application is usual- 

 ly hit and miss. It is always best to buy the chem- 

 icals or raw materials and make the mixture for 

 the occasion. A combination of stable and concen- 

 trated manures is usually preferable to either alone. 

 For fruits, potash is particularly valuable. Green 

 manuring with rye has come to be a settled custom 

 in most Michigan peach communities. 



Sight and aspect are always important in peach 

 growing. They must be determined by the local 

 conditions. High lands are always best because of 

 their atmospheric drainage and because the soil is 

 likely to be more congenial to the peach. High 

 sites are not valuable because they are windy sites, 

 although there is a common notion to the contrary. 

 The essence of their value lies in their drainage of 

 cold air. Windbreaks are always desirable, but 

 they must be adapted to the conditions. In the 

 north, peaches are usually grown near large bodies 

 of water for protection, and the winds off the lakes 

 are warm winds. To stop these winds by dense 

 plantings or by the adaptation of forests is usually 

 injurious, but a thin shelter belt breaks the force of 

 the wind and affords great protection to trees laden 

 with ice or fruit, and lessens windfalls ; and is not 

 productive of injury. 



The favorite aspect in the vicinities of the Great 

 Lakes is one which faces the lake, but if the site is 



CE TO MICHIGAN PRACTICES. 



good the particular lay of of the land is rarely con- 

 sidered. But in interior places, aspect is more im- 

 portant. A southern exposure often means earlier 

 flowering and increased liability to injury from late 

 frosts. But the immense body of water in any of 

 the large lakes warms up slowly in spring, and trees 

 near them start later and escape frosts. I have 



Model Peach Tree Ten Years after Planting. 



many times noticed a difference of two weeks in 

 time of blossoming of peach trees in places 20 

 miles apart, one of which lay along Lake Mich- 

 igan and the other inland. Outside the influence 

 of the lakes, spring frosts do more damage than 

 cold winters. 



One year from the bud is the accepted age at 

 which to set peach trees in the orchard. First- 

 class trees are none too good. Spring planting is 

 usually preferable to fall planting. When the tree 

 is set, all the limbs are cut back to one bud, or the 

 feebler ones are removed entirely. If the tree is tall 

 and slender, the leader should be headed back, but 

 good trees do not demand such treatment. Still 

 the practice of heading back can hardly be objec- 

 tionable. 20 by 20 feet are the usual distances 

 apart for setting, although closer planting is some- 

 times practiced. But the wider planting gives better 

 trees and better fruit, and renders labor easier. 



There can be no royal advice for the pruning of 



