THE BARNES BROS. NURSERY CO., YALESVILLE, CONN. 
3 
PEACHES 
A Few Hints on the Successful Growing of the Peach 
The growing of Peach Trees is our specialty. We fully believe that our combination 
of soil and methods of handling, taken together, produce a tree of the very best character, 
either for the orchard man to plant or for the purposes of the fruit garden That our trees 
"prove out" satisfactorily we are bound to believe from the character of our orders from 
those who best know how to plant. 
Our trees are grown from the best obtainable seed. We renew our buds every two or 
three years by getting our buds from bearing trees in a section free from "yellows" and 
bud in a portion of our nursery; the next year buds are taken from trees grown from these 
buds to bud the nursery, thus insuring healthfulness. Nobody is permitted to cut buds for 
propagating except a thoroughly competent man interested in sustaining the good repu- 
tation of our Company. You will often see concerns advertising peach trees grown from 
their own bearing trees. We would caution customers to avoid buying such trees, tor there 
is great danger in trees so propagated of the dreaded "Yellows" and "Little Peach." These 
diseases are quite likely to be transferred or inherited when buds are taken from bearing 
orchards in the "Yellows Belt," which now includes nearly all the peach growing districts 
of the eastern and northern 
United States. 
HINTS ON SOIL AND CARE 
OF TREES. Peaches can be 
grown on a great variety of 
soils with varying success; but 
in selecting an orchard site we 
prefer one that has lain idle 
for years with soil both dry 
and strong. If the soil is not 
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 condi- 
tion. Worn-out land can be 
made profitable peach land, if 
a liberal use is made of wood 
ashes, or a mixture of ground 
animal bone and muriate of 
fiotash. Land of intermediate 
ertility should be treated as 
the condition requires, using 
more or less fertilizer as may 
be needed to induce a mod- 
erate wood growth. 
DISTANCE OF PLANTING must be governed by local conditions. On rich, heavy soil, 
trees should be planted 18 feet apart; on average land, 16 by 18 feet is about right, while 
on light land 16 by 16 feet will not be too close. A few orchard men are planting 10 by IS 
and 10 by 20, and after getting one or two crops, cutting out every other 10 foot tree, this 
leaving the maturing trees ample space to develop in as well as doubling the yield of hrst 
crops. 
IT IS IMPORTANT that the young trees should be properly 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, by thinning out part of the new growth. 
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. The beginner will soon discover that on rich land trees with 
