26* 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
March 4, 
TALES OF PEACH TREE AGENTS. 
K. K., Mifflingburg, Pa .—Do peach trees 
budded on the wild root bud later in the 
Spring and are thus less liable to freeze 
the blossoms than those budded on the tame 
root? Are peach trees budded on the wild 
peach root more hardy, longer lived, more 
certain annual bearers, less liable for the 
borers or worms to work on, than the 
peach tree that is budded on tame root? 
The agent who spoke to me stated the wild 
roots were obtained from North Carolina. 
Ans. —Almost every nurseryman who 
made a specialty of growing peach trees 
in the past stated first of all things that 
his trees should be planted by the or- 
chardist, because he budded all of his 
trees on stocks grown from natural 
Tennessee seed, gathered in the moun¬ 
tains where no yellows or any other 
peach disease had ever been known to 
exist. This was true to a great extent. 
Thousands of natural or wild peach 
trees grew and thrived in the mountain¬ 
ous districts of Tennessee. The moun¬ 
taineers gathered the fruit, which was 
small and clingstone, as a rule. They 
cut off the flesh from the stone and dried 
it in the sun, then carried both the dried 
fruit and the stones to some store where 
they traded them for groceries or other 
supplies, just as eastern farmers take 
their produce to town or village store 
and “trade it out.” The storekeeper sold 
the peach fruit, or rather, fuzz and skin, 
to wholesalers who distributed it 
throughout the country, and from this 
source came about all of our unpeeled 
dried peaches. The seed was sold either 
direct to a nurseryman or to wholesale 
seedsmen, who retailed them to the 
nurseryman. The supply of Tennessee 
seed kept diminishing, and the demand 
kept increasing, hence a new source of 
supply was needed. It was found that 
large quantities of natural fruit were 
growing in the mountainous regions of 
North Carolina, also in Accomac Co., 
Virginia, but the North Carolina seed 
was much larger than the Tennessee 
seed, and the Accomac County seed still 
larger than the North Carolina seed, 
thus reducing the number of seeds per 
bushel. The Tennessee seed contained 
a large percentage of twin .kernels, but 
the larger North Carolina and Acco¬ 
mac Co. seldom had twin kernels. In 
later years the Smock seed was used as 
the nearest approach to the natural seed. 
The advent of the canning and evapo¬ 
rating houses opened up a new supply 
of seed, and the mesh of the screening 
machines made Tennessee, North Caro¬ 
line, Accomac County and Smock. Can 
house seed has furnished the stock or 
root system of many thousands of the 
best orchard trees there are in fruiting 
at the present time. The one important 
part for the future life and success of 
the tree is that it be budded on a stock 
grown from a healthy seed, no matter 
whether that seed was grown from a 
natural cling from North Carolina, 
Tennessee or Accomac County, or from 
a freestone Smock, Mixon, Elberta, or 
any other variety, grown in New Jersey 
or any State. If the stock is healthy and 
a healthy bud is inserted in that stock, 
the result will be a healthy tree. On 
the other hand, no matter how healthy 
the stock may be, if a bud is inserted 
in it from a diseased tree, especially 
one affected with the yellows, or the 
“little peach,” the result will be a 
diseased tree, and the same results 
would follow if the stock was grown 
from a diseased seed. 
The terms “wild” and “tame” I pre¬ 
sume is meant to distinguish seedlings 
grown from natural and named, or im¬ 
proved varieties. The seed planted from 
the very largest and best improved 
varieties becomes a natural seedling 
again, and may bear only small cling¬ 
stone fruit; on the other hand, some 
natural seed will grow large freestone 
fruit. All seedlings are termed “nat¬ 
urals” whether they came originally 
from an unnamed or named variety. The 
main point is to have them healthy if 
used for a stock to grow other varieties 
on. Some of the improved or named 
varieties have a strong tendency to re¬ 
produce themselves almost identically 
from their own seed. This is especially 
true of the Smock and of the old Red- 
cheek Melocoton. Many of the seedlings 
of these varieties, under other names, 
would puzzle the very best judges to 
distinguish them from the parent or 
original variety. The stock will have 
nothing whatever to do with the hardi¬ 
ness, time of blooming or guarding 
against late frosts, nor will it insure 
annual bearing or drive away the borer. 
The salesman may not know a peach 
tree from a plum or apricot, but he has 
been drilled to say certain things, and 
those things are pleasant easy things; 
for instance, if he can persuade a waver¬ 
ing planter that his trees will not need 
much care as compared with other trees, 
that they will be free from borers and 
freezing, bloom later and bear earlier, 
he gets the order at double price. The 
customer most likely gets some bitter 
experience and waits until some other 
fellow comes along with a better story, 
when he bites again, while within driv¬ 
ing distance is a home nursery, where 
he can go and get honest advice and 
good trees. If the inquirer would ask 
his neighbors who grow peaches on the 
same soil as his own, under the same 
climatic conditions, etc., he would get 
first-hand information. If peaches are 
not grown in his vicinity, then consult 
his State Horticulturist about growing 
peaches under the conditions that he 
will have to give them; from either 
source he will get unselfish and un¬ 
prejudiced advice. 
The peach succeeds best on a sandy 
loam. The later varieties will succeed 
on sandy loam or on heavier land (not 
a compact clay) if well drained (wet 
land is death to the peach). The loca¬ 
tion is a very important matter; a slop¬ 
ing hillside, preferably a northern ex¬ 
posure, but any elevation to secure a 
perfect air drainage. Never plant in 
protected southern exposures, as the 
warm days of the Winter and early 
Spring will cause the buds to swell, and 
a sudden fall in the temperature will kill 
or injure them. Avoid too much 
nitrogenous food, but give an abund¬ 
ance of phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash in the form of bone and muri¬ 
ate of potash, wood ashes, etc. Se¬ 
lect hardy varieties when the location 
is in cold or changeable weather condi¬ 
tions. Those classed as the North 
China type are the best for the Middle 
and Northern States. This includes such 
well-known and standard varieties as 
Greensboro, Carman, Belle of Georgia, 
Capt. Ede, Elberta, Heiley, Thurber, 
Waddell and Miss Lola. The Champion 
is hardy both in bud and tree, a great 
cropper, fine large fruit of the very best 
quality—but rots badly. All white flesh 
peaches are hardier in bud than are the 
yellow-fleshed freestone varieties—when 
of the same class or type. 
The Smock class, which are yellow, 
have small tight-folded blossom buds 
like the white varieties—hence are hardy 
like the white-flesh varieties. The 
Melocoton or Crawford class have large 
loose blossom *bu'<ls, which swell _ when 
a warm wet day or two comes in the 
Winter or early Spring, and a sudden 
freeze kills the water-soaked germ. The 
clings and semi-clings have small tight¬ 
ly enveloped fruit buds, and are hardiest 
in bud. The white-fleshed freestones 
and the Smock class of yellow free¬ 
stones are the hardiest of their class. 
The Crawford class are tenderest in 
bud. All of this is true regardless of the 
stock upon which they were budded, the 
stock must come from a healthy seed, 
no matter where the seed came from. 
The hardiness will be in the variety 
itself, and not from the stock it was 
budded on. The borer attacks the peach 
of every variety, but is worse on light 
soils than heavy—the cure is the knife 
and wire. The annual cropping will de¬ 
pend upon the care, cultivation, pruning, 
thinning, feeding and location more than 
anything else. The trees should be pur¬ 
chased of a reliable nurseryman who can 
be held responsible for his contracts. Do 
not buy from anyone who makes un¬ 
reasonable or extravagant representa¬ 
tions. No responsible nurseryman would 
allow his agents to make such state¬ 
ments as your correspondent quotes, and 
no sensible person should listen to them 
when they are made. E. s b. 
will be a source of pleasure and profit if you enrich the soil, plant 
BUnnEXjLi’S BEST SEEDS 
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You will meet with loss and disappointment if you plant poor seed. 
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Every reader of the Rural New-Yorker should plant some of these 
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H C WIT *"Y fit QHN Ray 199 Pavnox N Y 
GATALPA 
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