Avaust 6, 1906 
The Orchard. 
PON ee 
Cultivation of the Peach. 
ene 
By Mr. A, J. Bray. 
There are few varieties of fruits udapted 
to such varied conditions as the peach 
The apple is essentially a product of the 
hills districts. ‘The orange is only adapted 
for limited areas, generally rich alluvial 
flats, well sheltered. ‘I'he almond can only 
be cultivated successfully within a limited 
distance of the seacoast, but the peach 
thrives both in hills and plains, on the 
Sandhills as well as river flats, and there 
are few localities where it cannot be grown 
With a faic measure of succes. Of late 
years therehas been a great extension of 
the season in which peaches can be pro- 
duced. Formerly, the season was a brief 
One, but now it extends for fu!ly four 
mounths, and peaches are in season con- 
tinuously from the beginning of December 
Until the middle of April. ‘he best stock 
for the peach-tiee is the peagh. he apri 
cot stock has been tried, with the idea of 
its being more resistant of the aphis, but 
the trees did not thrive. The almond 
Stock produves a vigorous tree, but they 
have a teadency to gum badly. The idea 
that such trees are white-ant resistant is a 
fallacious one ‘tue experience iu the 
floods of 1889 was that peach-trees worked 
On almond stocks were some of the first 
trees in the garden to succumb to the 
effects of the excessive moisture. Peach 
On peach st ck gives the best results. In 
Selecting trees for planting avoid those of 
arge size. Such usually rece've a checkin 
transplanting, and lag behind trees of less 
size. ‘J'rees of medium size, first year from 
the bud, are the best to plant. Never 
purchase fruit-trees of any variety at an 
‘auction sale Such are usually culls, very 
o’tsn untrue to names, and unreliable. 
Purchase only from a well-known nursery- 
man. ‘I'he soil shuld be cultivated deeply 
before planting, but the old-fashioned 
method of sinking deep holes is not to be 
recommended A hole sufticient to spread 
out the roots is all that is necessary. If 
the ground is of a heavy nature, the under- 
soil might be loosened with a pick. ‘I'he 
great mistake of amateur fruit-growers is 
that of planting too deeply. ‘The tree 
Should not be planted d eper than it 
formerly grew in the nursery-bed. ‘There 
1s mo tree which requires. more careful 
pruning than the peach.  Peach-tree, 
diff-r very much in the manner they carry 
their fruit-wood. Some have short spriggy 
Spurs; others carry the fruit-buds mainly 
On the extremities of lmg shoots ‘The 
p-uner needs to take into consideration — 
the individual character of his trees. With 
Some of the strong-growing varieties a 
_ System somewhat akin to the rod-and-spur 
system for vines needs to be adopted, A 
great mistake made in pruning is that of 
leaving too many leading shoots, thus 
making the tree too dense, to the injury of 
the fru‘t-bearing shoots. ‘Ihe peach trea 
requires to be kept very open, as light is 
esential to the maintenance of fruit bear- 
ing wood along the branches. Summer 
pruning is essential to the successful cul- 
tivation of the peach. This consists in 
rubbing off or cutting out surp'us growth, 
thus producing better ripened fruit-wood. 
Of varieties of peaches there are a large 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. | 
number. The Emperor Alexander is about Q.., 
the earliest variety, ripening in this locality Lor ehum 
about the first week in December, and from Fi 
that time thére is practically a regular Amber Cane Lucerne 
succession until the middle of April, when Essex Rape 
the Lady Palmerston, one of the latest 
worthy of cultivation,-is in season. ‘The 
yellow-fleshed varieties are mostly of Cali- 
fornian iatroduction, and though not 
possessing the deliate flavour of the white- 
fleshed varieties, are good all-round peaches 
many of them being suitable for either 
dessert, canning, or drying. 
Of the yellow-fleshed variety the early 
Crawford is one of the best. Ripening 
about md season, it is handsome in ap- 
pearance, a regular bearer, carries well 
and is of exvellent flavor. 
Other good varieties are the Elberta, 
the Globe, the Wheatland, Susquehanah, 
Early Canada, Briggs’ Red May, Amsden’s 
Jane, Royal George, Mountain Rose, Sea 
Kagle, and Whatmough’s Seedlings are to 
be recommended. With the first men- 
tioned four the great drawback is their 
tendency to shed their iruic buds. It is 
wise to defer pruning these varieties until 
the buds are beginning to swell, as you 
have then a better idea of the number. of 
fruit buds to leave. : : 
Two varieties which I have not men- 
fioned on account of their lack of carrying 
qualities, viz, River's Early and Early 
Silver, are worthy of a place in the ama- 
teur’s garden, ; 
Of clingstone varieties, Royal George, 
Nicol’s Orange and Yellow Italian are the 
be-t. 
Thinning of fruit and irrigation are 
essentia! to the productjon of first-class 
fruit on the plains. ‘here is, perhaps, no 
fruit which responds more t) judicious 
irrigation than the peach, 
The peach, in common with néarly all 
the orchardist produces, has its enemies. 
The two most to be feared are the aphis 
and the curl fungus. The most effective 
treatment of the aphis is fumigation by 
means of tobacco smoke, the trees being 
encased in a tent. his is only practicable 
where cultivation is carried out on a fairly 
large scale. A spray composed of tobacco 
water, if app'ied at brief intervals of two 
or three days, will keep the pest in check. 
Other remedies are kerosene soap and 
emulsion 
The cur! leaf must be treated when the 
buds are bursting, if spraying is to avail, 
and the best material is Bordeaux Mix- — 
ture. As curl leaf depends on favorable 
conditions to work its ravages, and when 
the disease manifests itself it is too late to 
cope with it, is is well to be forearmed by 
spraying all the trees liable to be affected, 
In reference to the aphis, it was stated 
as being within the bounds of possibility 
that a variety would be discovered which 
would act as the Northern Spy stock for 
the apple, and used as a foundation stock 
render it immune or resistant to the attack 
of the aphis. i 
Mr H. Jacob, of Mildura, states—‘ I have 
now all the maize in silo. I also put in 
some green barley. ‘The silage has turned 
out better feed than I expected, as the 
maize was rather dry, and the cattle ate 
the cobs only, wasting the rest. Now. all 
of it has a sweet smell, and the cows are 
very fond of it and are milking well. I 
have no waste; the cows eat up every 
_scrap. Under irrigation, silo is a necessity. 
J 
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