I30 



PEACH CULTURE. 



a peach tree, or of any tree, in fact. The essen- 

 tial points to be secured are these : a low head and 

 a thin one. Apple trees require high heads be- 

 cause they grow large and eventually the limbs 

 droop more or less, and the trees are strong enough 

 to endure rough treatment at picking time. But 

 peach trees are not apple trees. Peach trees can be 

 trained low and yet never intefere with cultivation ; 

 and they are not to be climbed into promiscuously, 

 as apple trees are. Two feet from the ground is 

 high enough to start a top. Most growers prefer 

 even a lower top. From four to six good arms 



peach orchard" — and I could not find one on ten 

 acres ! This is by no means an unusual condition. 

 No garden along the Seine was ever cleaner than 

 many of these peach orchards which skirt the 

 eastern shores of Lake Michigan. In May a crop 

 of rye, which was sown the last of August or Septem- 

 ber, is plowed under, and from that time until rye 

 is sown again the harrow and cultivator are con- 

 stantly at work. Whether or no tillage is manure, 

 tillage is success. But with the sowing of rye, 

 tillage ceases, and the trees harden up their wood. 

 Rye assists in keeping the ground clean, and af- 



A Model Peach Orchard Six Years Planted. 



are trained to form the top. Subsequently pruning 

 consists in thinning out half the small wood each 

 year. This thinning improves the tree and thins 

 the fruit as well. The pruning is done in late 

 winter when labor is cheap, and leisure greatest. 

 The shortening-in system is not practiced in Michi- 

 gan, nor can I see any important reason for employ- 

 ing it when trees are properly grown. The three 

 excellent illustrations are object-lessons in pruning. 

 A model peach tree at lo years of age is as thin- 

 topped as fig. 3, even in June, when the leaves are 

 out. This illustration, as well as the ofhers, is 

 made from a photograph. 



"I will give you ^loo if you find a weed in my 



fords a tolerable manure, and it is supposed to af- 

 ford protection to the trees. When the peaches 

 are as big as little marbles, thinning has begun. 

 This thinning is done by hand — a slow process, but 

 always a profitable one. Good peaches sell. How 

 much to thin must depend upon the variety and 

 the condition of the tree ; but it is a common rule 

 that no two peaches when ripe shall touch each 

 other. The crop looks sparse and scant enough 

 when thinning is completed, but the spaces are 

 soon filled. 



The insects must be conquered. Borers should 

 be dug out in fall and spring, and they will soon 

 cease to do much damage. Put little faith in ex- 



