The peach tree. How to plant, grow, prune and cultivate successfully on New England soil

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

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Shelf.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

PEACH TREE,

HOW TO

PLANT, GROW, PRUNE AND. CULTIVATE
SUCCESSFULLY ON NEW
ENGLAND SOIL.

RUFUS R. FLETCHER.

NASHUA, N. H.:
C20B FRE CH PRINTING -HO.U (8 E:: \)
1881.

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THE

PEACH TREE.

HOW TO

PLANT, GROW, PRUNE AND CULTIVATE
SUCCESSFULLY ON NEW
ENGLAND SOIL.’

BY

RUFUS R. FLETCHER.

10. 1881 |

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Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1881, by RUFUS R.
FLETCHER, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

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Analysis of the Peach Tree.....

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INTRODUCTION.

Many of my friends, peach growers, have urged me to put in
print my ideas in growing the peach and treating its various
troubles. I have, in my humble way tried to give my ideas and
experience in these few pages, in such a manner, that every one
may understand them.

Those who have treated their trees in the manner laid down in
this little book have succeeded beyond their expectations.

I believe the time will come, and that before long, when peaches
will be grown as readily as apples and the market will be sup-
plied with more of the better class of peaches. The producer
will then receive a surer income and the consumer will be better
satisfied.

It seems strange at this late day. that science, horticultural and
agricultural papers have been spread over the land to the extent
they have, and that there could be found men who have the lands
and other facilities and still do not have the peach erowineg either for
market or for family use. But such is the fact, that hundreds have
the most desirable lands for the peach and have wholly neglected
to set the peach tree, and if it was not for their neighbors ‘alsing
them, they would hardly know what a peach was.

It is very strange sich delicious fruit is within the reach of so
many and they do not make an effort to grow at least enough
for their own use.

4

Fifty years ago if a farmer here in the country should have a
dozen peach trees bearing at once, they would go to waste for there
was no sale for them. Any one would be welcome to help
themselves to all they wanted. What a change now, peaches are
canned and dried and used in various ways. ‘The demand is in-
creasing, and the supply of first-class peaches is very limited.

If the instructions laid down here are followed by our peach
growers, our markets will be better supplied with larger and
better fruit.

RUFUS R. FLETCHER.

Ayer, Mass., 1881.

THE PEACH TREE

The peach tree is a native of China and Persia.
It was cultivated in England and France early as
1550, and was brought to this country by the early
settlers.

It is claimed by different writers that there is no
country in which the peach is grown so abundant-
ly as in the United States.

China and the United States are the only coun-
tries in which both peach and apple attain their
highest state of perfection in the open orchard.

There is no large fruit so delicious as the peach.
What is there for fruit that will compare in beauty
with a well developed ‘‘Crawford Early’’ or “Craw-
ford Late’? The rich golden ground and the beau-
tiful red cheek make it very handsome and _at-

-

tractive.

6

The peach tree left to itself usually comes into
bearing the third or fourth year.

In our cold New England climate the peach re-
quires more care to make it a success than it does
in the more genial climes of the south.

The tree should be kept in a good state of culti-
vation. You may plant in the orchard a hoed crop
but never a sown crop. Grass, rye and oats are
very injurious; they take from the soil what the
trees require to grow and develop its fruits. I have
seen orchards nearly ruined by a single crop of rye.
It stunts the trees, and makes them look sickly and
in many cases has destroyed them.

The peach can be grown upon almost all kinds
of soil. I have seen very good crops on heavy clay

soil, but the trees will not doas well as upon other

soils.

With fair treatment we believe it can be grown
and geod crops realized in spite of winter frosts of
fifteen or twenty degrees below zero, whenever we
will give it the care and protection required to do it.

In the twenty years experience I have had with
the peach, I have endeavored as far as possible to
study its habits, and by experimenting with others,
I am satisfied it can be grown as readily as the
apple, and more so, for with the apple we get a crop
every other year, where with the peach, we get three
or four crops in succession. If properly cared for,
the peach may produce crops every year and be
kept in a perfect state of health and vigor.

The mode of treatment laid down in this work,

7

will prolong the life and vigor of the tree to twen-
ty or thirty years. ‘The peach has been known to
live sixty to one hundred years in France and_pro-
duce crops yearly. It was treated every year to
skilful pruning and good cultivation. In many
instances it is trained to a wall or fence and cut
back yearly. Old trees with the inside decayed are
producing good crops of peaches every year.

The cutting back process assists the roots and
gives them the advantage of the top. Properly
pruned, the growing parts of the tree are reduced
nearly one-half every year. There must be an abun-
dant flow of sap from the roots, and with a fair de-
gree of cultivation will push the reduced top and
give in allits parts a vigorous and healthy growth.

“THE YELLOWS.”

This malady, it is claimed, belongs exclusively to
this country and to attack only the peach tree. It
is said to spread overand destroy the orchards of
whole towns and counties. The most skilful ex-
amination of roots, body and branches has failed
to discover any insect or other visable cause.
The symtoms are the sickly look of the leaves turn-
ing yellow; the growing out of slender wirey shoots
a few inches long, with small leaves, and the shoots
often starting from the dormant buds on the body
and limbs; some of the prominent limbs begin to
to die and gradually the whole tree dies.

Some people think the Yellows is always propa-
gated by budding or grafting. By others it is

8
claimed the Yellows shows itself and is propagated
when the tree is in blossom, that the wind and bees
carry the poland from tree to tree and in this man-
ner spreads through whole orchards.

There are a great many opinions regarding the
causes of the Yellows, some claiming one thing,
others another. It is seldom that two men are
found thinking alike on this pomt. Most all
writers admit the Yellows to be a constitutional
disease. Some claim the most healthy and vigor-
ous growing varieties are the most lable to take
the Yellows. The only remedy with most writers
on the Yellows is, as fast as the trees are affected
to dig them up and burn them, and by this means,
stop the malady. And they would advise you not
to plant in their places for a number of years.

In regard to this dread disease, we contend there
is no such thing as the Yellows as a constitutional
disease, especially in this section of the country.

If the peach tree is thoroughly attacked by
‘borers, it sickens and the leaves turn yellow, and
is one kind of Yellows. Ifyou should accidently
jam and bruise the tree as to cause it to lose a cer-
tain amount of gum, it becomes sickly and the
leaves turn yellow ; this, also, may be called the
Yellows.

If you should be inclined to stimulate your trees
too highly, causing them to grow too fast and
reach an overgrowth, they will, undoubtedly, go
into Winter with green and unripe wood, full of sap
and unfit to meet the cold of five or ten degrees

at ee a

9

below zero, or even at zero. Consequently your
trees freeze and burst open. I have seen many
trees so affected that you could see through their
trunks, the results that are sure to follow, give us
one more kind of Yellows,

Sowing and growing a crop of rye in your
peach orchard is one of the quickest and surest
ways of bringing on the Yellows.

Overloading the tree, causing it to struggle
to grow and mature fruit, stopping almost entirely
its growth, growing peachés not more than one-
third their natural size, of an unripe and sour qual-
ity, will sicken the tree, and not being able to
recuperate, itdies. This is a wicked kind of Yel-
lows.

Neglect of proper cultivation, causing the tree
to struggle for existence is another cause for “the
Yellows.” I am sorry to say a large number of
the trees set out come to premature death by the
neglect of giving them proper food on which to
feed. The starving trees begin to show signs of
death by the sickly look of the leaves turning yel-
low. ‘The parties owning them, ignorant of the
true cause, become discouraged, and failed to do
anything more for them. The borer takes pos-
session, and the action of the frost soon destroys
what little life there is left.

One more cause for the Yellows, and the one
I believe to be most common, and often destroys
whole orchards at one sweep, is the frost. In some
localities trees are effected nearly every Winter,

: 10

even ifthe Winter is mild. In the Winter of 1878,
peach orchards as a whole looked unusually healthy.
The season had been a favorable one for the grow-
ing and ripening up of the wood and for the matur-
ing of the best show of fruit-buds of any season
for many years. Peach growers were elated at the .
prospect of a large crop of peaches for another
year. In the following Spring, as the trees began
to start the alarm was given that the Yellows had
struck them. In some districts whole orchards
were effected. Some of them tried to leave out,
showing but little signs of life and then died, some
lived till the Summer was nearly through, others
lived through the season, but did not have life
enough to start the next Spring. I examined
many orchards in Middlesex and Worcester coun-
ties, Mass., also a number of orchards in New
Hampshire, and I became fully satisfied, the trouble
was caused by the action of the frost on the roots
of the affected trees. Some of the trees could be
moved as you could move a post in the ground,
showing in that way a loss of roots. In the Fall of
1878 the ground was well filled with water, and
froze quite deep. When examining the roots of
the trees we found the little feeders of the main
roots mostly broken off, and there were not roots
enough left to support the top. I believe the de-
stroying of the roots by the frost was the only
cause of the trouble.

I advised those that had their trees affected to
cut back the tops enough to give the balance of

11 ‘

power to the remaining roots, and to manure and
mulch them. Three or four only were persuaded to
follow my advice. ‘They believed the Yellows
were upon them, and there was no use in spending
time and work for nothing.

John Coburn of Hollis, N. H., had an orchard
badly affected, and was one of the gentlemen that
followed my advice in treating his trees. A few of
his trees were so badly affected I reccommended
him to cut them down. He cut back well the tops
of the remaining ones, stimulated with manure and
mulched well as Ladvised. The following Spring
the trees started out a dark green color, made a
splendid healthy growth, and matured a good show
of fruit-buds. [ found him in September very
much pleased with the experiment. I then advised
him to cut back about one-half the growth and to
keep the ground mulched through the Winter. He
did so, and astonished his neighoors with a_splen-
did crop of well developed peaches, which paid
him more than four-fold for his trouble.

There were two or three others in Massachusetts
that treated their trees in the manner Mr. Coburn
did, and met with the same good success. This
showed conclusively, that it was the action of the
frost that caused the great loss of trees in the
Spring of ’79, in this section of New England.

PRUNING.

The proper time to cut back peach trees is about
the middle of September. |

12

The tree should be grown to make a healthy
growth from fifteen to twenty-five inches. It should
be borne in mind that after cutting back, the top
of the tree will grow faster than the other parts.
The top or middle of the tree will require more
cutting back than the outside. Judgement should
be used in pruning, to give the tree the shape of an
inverted umbrella, which is the proper and most
desirable shape. ‘T’o obtain this shape, the outside
limbs often times require but very little cutting,
compared with the middle or top shoots.

The object of cutting back in September is, in
this cold climate, to ripen up the wood and to
develop strong healthy fruit-buds before cold weath-
er sets in. The tree will then be in proper con-
dition to go into rest.

The tree with this treatment will go through a
ereater degree of cold without injury, and will ma-
ture fruit-buds double the size of those of neglected
trees.

Experimenting has proved the fact that a tree
that is not cut back, will not stand the cold, as a
general rule, of more than ten degrees below zero,
and where a tree is cut back at the proper time will
mature such healthy buds, and ripened its wood,
as to stand from fifteen to twenty degrees below
zero and mature a good crop of peaches. |

The peach tree if not cut back, often continues
growing till late in the Fall. I have known them
to grow till the first of November, when heavy
frosts came and they went into Winter in a green

13

state and full of unripe wood. The trees were then
sure to suffer from the frost and were in no con-
dition to produce a crop of peaches for the next
year. Cutting back at this time stops the flow of
sap from the roots, causing the tree to rest, and
gives the tree only proper time to devolop healthy,
plump fruit-buds before frost sets in. — In this celi-
mate | cannot fix upon any other time to prune
than the middle of September. If cut back earlier,
there is danger, should there be a warm Fall, of
the trees making a second growth, which if they
did, would place the trees in as bad condition as
they would have been had they not been cut back
at all.

Sometimes trees stop growing by the middle of
September. Where they have done so, I have
*tried experiments of cutting back at different
times.

I have cut back in November, December, Jan-
uary and February with no better results than from
those not cut back at all. I believe the tree re-
quires time to ripen its wood throughly and at the
same time develop to perfection its fruit-buds be-
fore going into Winter. If the trees are given a
healthy growth yearly, and are cut back properly,
are sure to have fruit more often and of a better
quality than can be had by neglecting this cutting
back treatment. By cutting back, the fruit will
develop to much larger size, the quality will be very
much improved and will surely command a better
price in the market.

14

Another benefit derived from cutting back is
the prolonging of the life of the tree more than
double. There is no good reason why it should
not live to the age of twenty-five or thirty-five
years in our climate, and be as ready to produce
crops at that age as at five or six years.

We do not expect the length of life in this cold
climate that it has in France. In that country the
life of the peach tree, by skilful pruning, has been
prolonged in some instances to one hundred years.

It is an established fact that those who have
pruned, mulched and cultivated have succeded in
obtaining very large returns for their labor and
trouble.

Is it not worth the while for every one in grow-
ing the peach tree to spend a httle more time, and
raise good fruit that will always command the best
prices, prolonging life in the tree, and obtain more
fruit every year than can be had by the usual way
of treating it.

This treatment of pruning back yearly, does
away to a great extent, of thinning out the peaches.
By cutting back, the number of peaches is already
reduced to nearly one-half the whole number. A
very little thinning oat of the remainder will give
large well developed peaches of uniform size, and
if looked after through the growing and ripening
season, removing those not inclined to mature,
when you come to pick, you will find instead of
one-half or three-fourths of your peaches, small and
of inferior quality, not one in twenty of that class.

—-—

rrr

‘T

You have by this process produced a good crop
and at the same time have assisted the tree by good
cultivation to grow a good healthy growth of wood
with a plenty of fruit-buds for another year’s
crop.

By this treatment you have produced more crops,
and realized more money for each crop than you
could by the usual way of treating them, at the
same time keeping the trees in a healthy condition
and prolonging the life of your trees.

I have dwelt at considerable length oh the cut-
ting back of the trees, for I beheve it to be one of
the most essential parts in the treatment of the
peach. ,
SETTING AND PRUNING.

Peach trees should always be set in the Spring,
and as early as the ground will permit. Set no
deeper than they grow in the nursery.

It should be remembered, in setting peach trees,
the best results are from those that have all the
limbs cut off to one-eighth of an inch from the
body, und the top cut back to two and one-half
feet from the ground. Start the tree from three
buds as near six inches of the top as possible, rub-
bing off all other buds that may start. ‘his will
leave the body smooth two feet from the ground
and give you a low tree to start with, which is
desirable, making it much better to prune and thin
out, and easier to pick its fruit.

It will also prevent strong winds, to a great
extent, from injuring the tree.

16

Start your tree from three buds as mentioned
above, at setting in the Spring, and about the mid-
dle of September cut back the three shoots or
limbs to one-half their length. The next Spring,
from these three shoots, rub off all but three buds
to a shoot. This will give you nine buds from
which to grow shoots the second year. From
these nine shoots you can readily grow and prune
your tree to the desired shape.

I think trees set fourteen or fifteen feet apart
would be*®better than a longer distance. In this
climate we must prune stronger than in a milde? one,
and by so doing we can have the trees at their
proper size, ten or twelve feet through the top and
eight feet high. This is as large as you can con-
veniently prune all parts of the tree, or thin out,
and pick the fruit with the help of a step-ladder.
Don’t fear to cut off the fruit-buds in pruning.
It can safely be said where there 1s one tree that is
pruned too much, there are five hundred not pruned
enough.

Pinching off the ends of the stronger growing
shoots while they are growing, will cause the sap
to flow more free to the slower growing shoots and
give them a stronger growth. ‘This is very desir-
able to give the tree an uniform growth. When
pruning, be sure to prune the inside shoots as well
as those on the outside. If not pruned yearly the
inside shoots would in a short time die, making the
the fruit grow more to the outside of the tree. Often
a shoot may be found growing as to outstrip all

Li

others and to the injury of the other shoots on the
limb. ‘This should be pinched in as soon as noticed,
which will cause the sap to flow more equal to all
parts of the tree.

When trees have grown to fill the space allotted
to them they may be kept there by rubbing: off the
wood-buds. This may be done at the time of
pruning, or in the Spring after the wood-buds_ be-
gin to grow. This may be done with more dis-
patch after the buds have started, being very care-
ful not to interfere with the fruit-buds. Rub _ off
all the wood-buds excepting one at the base of the
shoot, thus making the wood-bud grow as near the
limb as possible. ‘This will leave the fruit-buds be-
yond the wood-buds. In this way you can keep
the trees within the space given them as readily as
you can a grape vine.

A tree pruned in this way becomes more stalky
and strong, and when loaded with fruit or ice will
be more able to sustain its load, avoiding the
breaking down of limbs which is too common in the
fruiting season and in Winter. — A tree under this
treatment will live much longer and produce better
fruit than the tree without this treatment.

It should be remembered the frnit is grown upon
the growth of the year before, and every portion of
the tree destitute of such growth must be worthless.

Where the tree is not pruned properly all the
fruit-buds on it will bear if the season is favorable.
‘Two or three wood-buds at the top would make a
very small and feeble growth in consequence of the

Ve Regi alatnncy.

tree not being able to carry out its fruit and grow
its shoots at the same time. At the end of the season
there would be a long space destitute of shoots or
buds, and in this manner the central and lower
parts of the tree loses its healthy shoots. By head-
ing in or cutting back all parts of the tree as before
mentioned, you will succeed in giving the tree a
healthy growth in its different parts. The sap of
the peach tree runs to the extremities of the shoots
more than in any other fruit tree, and being left
to itself will grow long and stragely branches.

[Ly

Another point to be kept in view when pruning,
is to give each portion of the tree an equal number
of fruit-buds as far as it is possible. By so doing,
you will give the tree, in fruiting an equal balance
of fruit throughout all its parts, your fruit will be
nearly uniform in size, and the sap flowing freely
to all parts of the tree, grows its wood-buds and
fruit-buds evenly inall its parts, thus giving the
tree uniform growth.

Every observing peach-grower knows that a tree,
by the time it is four years old, if not pruned, will

1

begin to lose its inside shoots, and when the tree is
older, has lost so many shoots that the limbs become
quite naked, as shown by cut No. 1. The tree has
not halfthe healthy shoots it should have from which
to grow its fruit-buds. The sap flows feebly through
the naked limbs and there are not half leaves enough
to provide for a proper growth of fruit. This is
sure to be the case with all peach trees that are not
cut back.

Ti ——_———

Cut No. 2, represents a tree that has been treat-
ed by the cutting back or shortening in system of
pruning. The tree has been pruned to the desired
shape, its shoots are evenly distributed, and presents
a very healthy and promising appearance.

‘This system of pruning, where it has been prop-
erly applied yearly, has prolonged the life of the
tree more than two-fold and caused the tree to
produce more and better fruit.

The tree will be very attractive when growing
and its beautiful shape will cause all to look upon
it with admiration. ‘The tree will be loaded with
rich dark leaves, and have a healthy and vigorous

20

look and perfect shape. If care is taken to set
trees in straight rows they will look more grand
and noble.

THINNING OUT.

The first thinning out should be done when the
peaches are about the size of a shagbark walnut.
In thinning be sure to leave the fruit evenly dis-
tributed through the tree. ‘Thin out to two peaches
to a shoot, which can be done very rapidly in a
properly pruned tree. The fruit will require a
little more thinning out as the peaches begin to
mature by removing all the knurly ones.

MULCHING.

For the first Winter after setting, two or three
shovelfuls of earth placed against the body of the
tree will afford sufficient protection.

The next season’s mulching should be done late
enough in the Fall to have the ground frozen to a
depth of two or three inches, but not exceeding
four inches, and before snow comes if possible.

Mulch well, covering the ground from the body
of the tree as far away as the roots would be
likely to reach.

The object of waiting till the ground is frozen
is to make sure of having the ground and mulch-
ing frozen in the Spring. ‘This prevents, in a warm
time, the sap starting from the roots. If the sap
should start from the roots before a proper time in
the Spring the buds will also surely start, then
coming a reaction of the frost, or in other words,

2]

a slight freeze of the buds, the germs will be de-
stroyed and they cannot produce fruit. The trees
may, and often do blossom and to the inexperienced
would show no visable sign they were not healthy
blossoms.

I will mention one case of this kind:

In the Spring of 1880, Mr. 'T. J. Sanderson of
Sudbury, Mass., had an orchard which he had skil-
fully pruned and mulched. He tried the experi-
ment of mulching his trees, leaving a row without
being mulched. The trees he did not mulch blos-
somed in the Spring, but produced no fruit. The
trees which he mulched, blossomed and produced a
well developed crop. The experiment showed that
the sap ran up from the roots and started the fruit-
buds too early, for afterwards the frost or a little
freeze came and affected the fruit-germs so as to
destroy them.

In the Summer of °79 I visited several orchards
in Ashby, Mass., where I found the trees badly af-
fected by the action of the frost on the roots, and
was pronounced by everybody who looked at them
to be the Yellows. Joming to a Mr. Piper’s
place in the immediate vicinity, I found his peach-
orchard ina good state of health. The leaves of the
trees had the healthy dark green color, and seemed
to be flourishing finely. I asked Mr. P. what
made his orchard look so much better than his
neighbor’s, he answered, ‘*The Yellows had not
struck it.’ I found by going into the orchard the
ground covered all through the orchard with mead-

29

ow-hay, which he said he put on last year to kill
the witchgrass. Mr. P. had by accident killed the
Yellows by his mulching and had the best crop of
peaches in that vicinity.

Another case that I will mention is that of Mr.
Marshall Miles of Concord, Mass., who has an or-
chard with which he took the first premium at the
Middlesex County Fair, at Concord in the Fall of
1880. Mr. Miles had pruned and mulched most of
his trees nearly after the plan laid down in this
book. A few trees in his orchard were neither
pruned or mulched and they were affected by the
Winter. The trees looked sickly and the leaves
turned yellow as thousands of others have done
when left to themselves, and they were pronounced
by experts to be affected by the Yellows. He was
advised to dig up and burn them, root and branch,
as the only known remedy for the Yellows. I saw
the trees a short time after and advised a different
course of treatment, which was to cut back the
tops to meet the loss of roots, to stimulate with
some good fertilizer, and to mulch them at the
proper time in the fall. In cutting back, I advised
to be sure and give the roots the advantage of the
top, that is, the remaining roots should yield suffi-
cient sap to support the reduced top. My advise
was heeded, and every one of the trees started and
made a splendid growth. At this time you would
not mistrust they had ever had the Yellows. In
stimulating the trees to grow, it brought them back
quickly to their natural health and vigor.

pas)

Those who may wish to treat their peach trees
with this system of training which has proved so
successful, I wish to impress upon their minds
the necessity of cutting back their trees nearly as
possible at the time laid down in a previous chap-
ter, namely, the middle of September. The time
from the middle of September to Winter is required
to ripen the wood and develop the perfect fruit-
buds, which is very essential to prepare the tree to
go through Winter and produce fruit with any de-
gree of certainty.

THE BORER.

The peach borer or peach worm is a great nui-
sance and tries the patience of peach-growers. It
girdles and devours the whole circle of bark Just
below the surface of the ground, ruiming the tree
by its ravages.

Downing’s description of the insect in its devel-
oped state is a slender, dark-blue, four-winged
moth, something like a wasp. It commences to
deposit its eggs in the soft and tender bark of the
tree which lies at the base of the trunk, usually
about the last of June, but often at different times
from June to October. The eggs hatch and be-
come small white borers or grubs, which eventually
grow to be three-fourths of an inch in length.

This troublesome little creature is very persistent
in its efforts in penetrating the tree, devouring the
bark and sap, and if allowed to continue its work,
will surely take all health and life from the tree.

24

After passing the Winter in the tree, the borer en-
folds itself in a cocoon under or upon the bark and
emerges in its perfect or winged form in June and
begins the deposit of eggs for another generation.

It is not a difficult matter to keep the borers
from the trees if a little pains be taken in season.

Experience has proved that wood-ashes or air-
slacked lime, from two to four quarts, according to
the size of the tree, heaped against the body, will
protect the tree from borers. It should be applied
in the month of May and remain till October, when
it may be spread over the ground to act as a fertil-
izer. I have seen many orchards treated in this
manner with perfect success. An old adage says:
‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,”
and if we prevent the borer from entering the tree
we shall avoid the trouble of cutting and injuring it
to remove the destructive little pest.

WASH FOR TREES.

Take Stone lime, slack and prepare as ordinary
whitewash; make about two-thirds of a pail full of
this, now add one pint of gas tar, one pound of
whale oil soap dissolved in hot water, or take
one pint of common soft soap, or one pound of
potash, or one pint of strong lye from wood ashes,
then add clay orloam enough to make it the
proper thickness, to be apphed with a common
white-wash brush.

If the trees have the earth ridged around the
body take the earth away and apply the wash

25

to the body from the limbs to the ground. The
advantages of this is that it will destroy the
bark-louse and will give the tree a bright, clean
and healthy appearance, and will also remove and
prevent rust.

It will prevent the attack of the borer in ap-
ple and peach trees; it has been known where
the trees have been badly affected by the borer
to entirely drive them away by one application,
and the tree has become healthy and vigorous.
Again, mice and rabbits will not girdle trees where
the wash is used.

Apply in May for general benefit and late in
Autumn as a preventative for mice or rabbits.

Gas tar applied alone will kill the trees.

HOW TO EUCHRE THE BORERS.
FROM N. Y. FRUIT RECORDER.

Ten years or more ago I tried the use of
paper bands and gas tar, in various forms, on
my peach trees, and, when carefully applied, it
was effective in excluding the borers, but for the
past seven or eight years I have practised a more
excellent way, and I know other fruit growers
who have done the same, and would not think of
going back to the old methods. It is simply using
carbolic acid, which is the essence or spirit of gas
tar, and is easily made to combine with water by
adding soap, while the tar itself will not combine,
and is far less safe and cleanly in its application.
My rule for preventing borers is to get a pint

26

of crude carbolic acid—costing twenty-five cents,
and is sufficient for twenty gallons of the wash.
Take a tight barrel and put in four or five
gallons of soft soap, with as much hot water
to thin it; then stir in the pint of carbolie acid,
and let stand over night to combine. Now add
twelve gallons of rain water and stir well; then
apply to the base of the tree witha short broom
or old paint brush, taking pains to wet inside of
all crevices. This will prevent both peach and
apple borers. It should be applied the latter part
of June in this climate, when the moth and beetles
usually appear. The odor is so pungent and last-
ing that no eggs will be deposited where it has
been applied, and the effect will continue till after
the insects have done flying. If the crude acid
cannot be obtained, one-third of the pure will
answer, but it is more expensive.

RECEIPTS.

For curled leaf and mildew which is so destruc-
tive to the small limbs of the peach, use strong soap
suds, or whale oil soap.

Tobacco soap will destroy bark insects, mildew, etc.

One-half peck of lime and one quart of soft soap
mixed with water, making a wash, and applied
with a brush to the body and limbs of the tree is
one of the best washes. The color may be changed
if objectionable by adding the desired coloring.

MANURES.

In undertaking to grow the peach properly and

opr7

ae

to the best advantage it is essential we first know,
what kind of food nature requires for it.

By obtaining an analysis of the peach tree we
find it contains,

Potash - . . - 12 parts,
lsinve;-" = - - - re A
Phosphate of Lime - - Bi

Therefore, lime is what nature requires for
the tree to feed upon more abundantly than any
other ingredient and it is one of the cheapest fer-
tilizers that can readily be had.

Lime then, is what is needed to grow a healthy
and vigorous peach tree, one capable of standing
to a certain degree, the cold of our climate, and
one that will resist the many troubles, and trials to
which it is subjected. If we give to the tree what
it wants to grow and make it what nature designed
it to be, it will resist its enemies with more ease and
erace than it could growing in the natural way
which most of the trees are growing in this section
of the country. |

We have grown trees, using stable manure for
fertilizer but it gave the trees properties which ma
natural healthy state they did not require, and it
changed the trees to sickly, feeble things.

As lime is what the tree needs more than any
other ingredient, and as it is cheaper than stable
manure and can be applied more readily, there
should be no excuse for growers to neglect giving
the trees all the lime they require. The Iittle
feeders will reach out from the main roots, and

28

drawing in the lime will impart it to the body of
the tree in such quantities that the little white
specks of lime may readily be seen in the bark of
the trunk and limbs.

Lime, phosphate of lime, and potash constitute

the chief food for the peach tree. These are
needed by the tree in growing and bringing
its fruit to perfection. | When the soil becomes

exhausted of these properties it will be plainly
noticed in the quality of the fruit.

When we feed the trees properly, they not only
produce better fruit, and show a rugged look, but
they will live much longer, bearmg fruit year
after year.

Ten barrels of air-slacked lime to an acre, year-
ly, would be little enough, spread over the
ground and cultivated or plowed in.

Wood-ashes for the potash would be best, and
can be applied at any time from April to July with
good effect. It acts quickly, and can be readily
obtained by most farmers.

Stable or hen manure, or phosphate composted
and applied in moderate quantities two or three
times while the tree is growing fruit will assist
very materially in the right direction.

It is an established fact that all kinds of fruit can
be grown larger and better by putting the manure
on the soil two or three times in moderate quanti-
ties while the fruit is growing, rather than applying
it all at once in great quantities.

The trees should be fed as often as it needs feed-

29

ing to give them a good growth at the time of
growing and maturing its fruit. If this is not done
the trees will bear small peaches that command but
a small price in the market. If the trees are not
given fertilizer they become feeble and are placed
in no condition to grow healthy fruit-buds for the
next season’s crop. The life of the trees will be
shortened by weakness and premature age soon
puts the trees beyond reach of help. They are
taxed beyond their strength in growing fruit and
wood, and become so sickly the owner believes
his trees have the Yellows, when the real trouble is
in the fact the tree is starving. There is a law to
punish a man if he starves his cattle, but none if
he starves his trees, but it is about as much to his
discredit and shame if he has knowledge of the
fact and does not try to remedy the fault.

It costs no more to carry peaches to market
worth three dollars a bushel, than those worth only
a dollar a bushel, and our market has too many
of the cheap class of peaches. There is an increas-
ing demand for the better class of well grown fruit,
and those raising the best peaches are making the
most money.

‘Trees will require less manure when treated by
the cutting back process, as they do not require as
much sap to give a vigorous growth.

Great benefits are received by pruning properly,
ill directed pruning will cause harm. It is just as
easy to prune right as to prune wrong. There is
but little danger of pruning too much, as it has

30

added to the life of the tree, and the domg away
with so many kinds of Yellows, I am sure will be
inducement enough to encourage you to prune
and mulch your peach trees.

ANALYSIS OF THE PEACH TREE.

The following analysis made by B. Kirtland,
Esq. of Poland, Ohio, will be found extremely use-
ful to every planter.

Equal quantities of limbs and twigs from three
different kinds of peach trees were taken and after
being thoroughly dried—whereby they lost 44 per
cent of water—were carefully burned with a mod-
erate fire, yielded as follows:

Charcoal and Sand, - - - he
Silica, - - - - - 1.48
Phosphate of Iron, - - - Ae
Potash, - - - Seba 5
Soda, - - - - ~ 2.00
Sulphate of Lime, - - - 2.25
Lime, - - - - Ee owe
Phosphate of Lime, - - 21.69
Magnesia, - - - ~ 1203
Peroxide of Manganese, — - 80)
Chloride of Sodium, - - .69
Carbonic Acid, - - = =" O0.00

After giving the analysis Prof. Kirtland adds:

‘Time and bone-dust, we judge, will be found
especially beneficial in perfecting truly healthy
trees, capable of enduring the great changes of our
New England climate.’’

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