Peaches and Plums* 
By J* ?♦ Mace* 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
I make this attempt with a feeling of 
inability to say anything new or worthy 
of record, after all that has been said here¬ 
tofore in these meetings and printed in 
the transactions of the society on the sub¬ 
ject of Peaches, Pears and Plums. 
My experience with pears and plums 
is very limited indeed and what little I 
may have to say will apply almost entirely 
to peaches. In our section pears and 
plums are very uncertain, making a crop 
about once in three years. The Excelsior 
plum occasionally will do fairly well. I 
hope other memibers of the committee can 
give you more light on these fruits than I 
am able to do. 
Beginning away back in 1886, the year 
in which I set my first three hundred peach 
trees, I have been growing and shipping 
peaches ever since these trees tegan fruit¬ 
ing—some seasons quite profitably, others 
a failure on account of severe freeze kill¬ 
ing trees back to stump, or a late cold 
snap or heavy frost destroying the fruit. 
Peach growers have their troubles as 
well as orange growers. In our section 
last season, severe drought through May 
and June greatly reduced the crop. Fruit 
small, cutting prices much below the usual 
figures on this account. Root-knot, root- 
gall, borers and San Jose scale we have 
had to contend with regularly for the past 
few years. This season’s crop is not 
regular with us—many trees full, others 
enough, some light, a few none, perhaps 
due to January freeze. 
The warm month of March with good 
rains gave fruit a good send-off and at 
this writing (April loth) prospects are 
excellent for fine fruit. Young peach 
trees set in January of this year have start¬ 
ed off remarkably well. I am of the 
opinion that wider planting than is us¬ 
ually practiced is best. Most of my trees 
are set about 21x23 feet. The orchard set 
this winter I decided to try closer plant¬ 
ing, setting them 18x22 feet, always 
planting the wide way of the rows, east 
and west. When possible to get them, 
take standard sized trees, four to six feet, 
cut back to about twelve inches. Cut off 
all lateral roots to not over two inches. 
Set, if any change, a little deeper than 
grown in nursery in land well broken, if 
possible, sixty to ninety days before set¬ 
ting time. Frequent cultivation, with 
light applications of orange tree grade, or 
No. 2 Simon Pure Fertilizer from three- 
fourths to one pound at a time every six 
to eight weeks, or say five times fon the 
season. Keep all*but three to five sprouts 
rubbed off and, if season is favorable, you 
will have trees six to eight feet high and 
spread in proportion by the last of Novem¬ 
ber and these will be capable of giving 
you some fruit the following summer. I 
usually cut these young trees back from 
