Peaches and Deciduous Fruits 
Ira D. Soar 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
Probably the most serious handicap to 
the production of peaches and other decid¬ 
uous fruits in Florida lies in the wrong 
cultural methods which are usually ac¬ 
corded them. Every kind of plant or 
tree should receive that care which suits 
its special requirements. If a farmer or 
truck grower should plant corn, beans, 
cucumbers, cabbages, strawberries, etc., 
at the same time and care for them in 
the same way, he could expect but one 
result—failure, in most of his crops.*• Yet 
a large number of growers plant peaches 
and other deciduous fruits, give them the 
same care accorded citrus trees, and, be¬ 
cause the results are not satisfactory, de¬ 
clare Florida is not a peach country. It 
is more often true that the grower is not 
a peach man. There are some deciduous 
fruits that do not thrive in Florida but 
peaches, pears and plums, when judicious¬ 
ly planted and properly cared for, should 
give as large, if not larger, returns than 
in any other part of the country. How¬ 
ever, each kind of fruit should have 
proper attention as to varieties planted, 
character of soil, selected for the orchard 
and care accorded. Not only do decidu¬ 
ous trees differ from citrus in cultural re¬ 
quirements, but peaches differ from plums 
and plums from pears. The real differ¬ 
ence in peach and citrus culture is not 
so much in cultivation and fertil¬ 
izers as in pruning, spraying, etc. 
Peaches, as well as citrus trees, have dis¬ 
eases of their own, and some of them are 
very vital. In order to succeed, it is just 
as important to understand the nature of 
these troubles and how to treat them as in 
the case of citrus trees. 
peaches 
Although nearly all well-drained soil 
will produce good peaches, a clay loam 
usually gives best results. If trees are on 
peach roots plant only on virgin soil; 
when plum roots are used it is not nec¬ 
essary to have new land- The earliest 
varieties should always be set on, the 
highest land so as to escape late frosts. 
Plant only varieties of South China and 
Spanish strains, and preferably the for¬ 
mer. The North China and Persian 
strains do not do well in Florida. The 
Elberta and many other varieties held in 
high esteem in other states are not suited 
to Florida conditions, and should not be 
planted here. The Jewel is our earliest 
market peach, and, owing to the fact 
that it goes in on an open market and has 
no competition for two or three weeks, is 
unquestionably the best commercial peach 
for South Florida. 
Peach trees on peach roots should be 
fertilized liberally the first year, receiv¬ 
ing four to seven pounds of a formula 
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