THE BARNES BROS. NURSERY CO., YALESVILLE, CONN. 
3 
PEACHES 
A Few Hints on tKe Sviccessful Growing of tKe PeacK 
This is our specialty. Being among the largest growers of Peach Trees in the 
country and shipping very extensively as we do, we have gained a wide reputation among 
fruit growers by the high quality of the trees we produce. 
Peaches come into bearing so soon and there is such an unlimited demand for the fruit 
that the enormous plantings of commercial Peach orchards still continue. Millions of 
trees have been planted in recent years, and the supply of nursery grown stock is not suffi- 
cient to keep up with the demand. New York and Connecticut are becoming large Peach 
producers. With the hardier \'aricties now propagated it is possible to grow Peaches suc- 
cessfully in almost anj^ section. Clean culture, annual pruning, and frequent examination 
for borers are the requisites for success. By careful thinning to get large and fierfect spec- 
imens, there seems to be a profitable place for all home grown fruit. 
OUR TREES ARE GROWN from natural seed collected in the mountainous districts of 
East Tennessee, where the "yellows" is never known and where the Peach has always 
grown with the greatest vigor, the trees attaining great age and bearing until superan- 
nuated. No tree can be healthy or long lived when grown from a pit of a diseased tree. 
Delaware and Maryland now have so much disease in their Peach trees that it is not safe 
to take pits from their orchards for propagation. We have taken every possible precaution 
to produce trees that are healthy and true to name. 
View of one of our blocks of youiiK Peach trees. 
HINTS ON SOIL AND CARE OF TREES. Peaches can be grown on a great variety of soils 
with varying success; but the foundation for success, in all cases, must be a dry soil. It 
need not be fertile to start with; it can be enriched as the trees grow. Land that will 
produce fifty bushels of corn per acre would, with thorough cultivation, bring a Peach 
orchard to a bearing age in vigorous condition. Womout land can be made profitable 
Peach land, if, when planting, a liberal use is made of wood ashes, or a mixture of ground 
animal bone and muriate of potash. Land of intermediate fertility should be treated as 
the condition requires, using more or less fertilizer as may be needed to induce a moderate 
wood-growth. 
DISTANCE OF PLANTING must be governed by local conditions. On rich, heavy soil, 
trees should be planted IS feet apart; on average land, 16 by IS feet is about right, while 
on light land 16 by 16 feet will not he too close. 
IT IS IMPORTANT that the young trees should be properh' pruned at the time of plant- 
ing. All side branches should be cut back to within a half-inch of the main stem, this stem 
itself being cut back at about two-thirds the distance from the ground. Small trees should 
be pruned to a whip, cutting back the stem very nearly one-half the way to the ground 
Afterward all sprouts should be removed except just what are wanted for the new top of 
the tree. After this it will be necessary to prevent the tops getting too dense, as a result 
from using too much manure or too severe pruning. 
THOROUGH CULTIVATION is of much more importance than fertilization, and is indis- 
pensable to success. After an orchard has reached bearing age its condition must be an 
index to after-treatment. A moderate growth only is required. An excessive growth of 
wood and foliage should be avoided, and this can usually be regulated by withholding 
fertilizer and cultivation. 'I'ho beginner will soon disco\-er that on rich land trees with 
