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Show I EVERYONE CANNOT ! RAISEPEACHES By E. P. Stiles Successful peach growing depends I upci the character of the grower and upon nothing else, becauso in him ro-i ro-i s.des tho iiuulltiefl which mako for success or for falluro. I Tho first essential quality ho must possess is good Judgment . It Is folly to tittempt pench growing grow-ing where peach growing is imprac-tlcab'o. imprac-tlcab'o. Tho grower much be able to Judgo accurately whethor a location loca-tion 1B lavornino or unravornblo. To I be hblo to do this, ho must know with a degree of completeness, which Is very unusual with men nt large, just what the peach demands for its environment. en-vironment. This Is a knowledge not at all easily gained, and a knowledge possessed by few. If he has not acquired ac-quired it ho must possess It beforo reliance can bo placed upon his Judgment Judg-ment in tho selection of nn orchard site. Tho knowledge or tho demands of tho peach must be tempered by on- I other of nearly equal Importance; a , knowledge so undellnablo that It may bo called the commercial Instinct. In-stinct. A writer In The Hort'cultural Gleaner, Glea-ner, In 1SD7, warned tho pencil grow- ' ers against planting so largo a pro-portion pro-portion of Elberta peaches. Ills warning warn-ing was not heeded, hut today it is recognized as having been sound. Tent 1p ono oxamplo of commercial Instinct, but It Is only ono of very J many phtiscs of It. ITho knowledge of tho best mothods of marketing, tho best markets and of whnt tho mnrkots demand In regard j to qualities, aro manifestations of this I Instinct. 1 There nro locations splendidly ad-apted ad-apted to successful poach culture which tiro rendered Impracticable by tho nbsenco of marketing facilities. Tho commercial Instinct lends away from such places. Tho sa'mo sonso manifests Itself al-bo al-bo In honest nnd skilful packing in attract! vo packages. Another quality tho successful peach grower must possess Is energy. Energy Plus Commercial Instinct Peaches In the early days of our history camo very near taking care of themselves nnd making good crops at tho same time. That was In the days when tho peach was comparatively compara-tively a stranger among tho trees of America. The seeds had been brought across tho ocean In the pockets or In tho luggage of the Immigrants; seeds from which tho flesh had been eaten and, consequently, seeds froj of disease, taken to a country froj of peach diseases. When a seed happened hap-pened to bo p'anted In proper legation lega-tion tho tree, rising from Its slum-b.-r as or the grave, found Itself In henvfr. If It did not pro'duco renin 'k-ab't 'k-ab't rcpults the fault wns with 'is iiopnghtor. 'i t e most common weed canno be p-'t uider oxtenslve cultlvatloi for a (in t maule period without devclo lng a uost of enemies, insects and fungi, which will render its growth In luxuriance, precarious. How nwoh moro must It bo so with tho tender, discriminating, exacting peach? Vet Micro Is not n section In tho UnltoJ States, Ih which tho peach origin illy il-ly did well, where It has not been subjected to the most absurdly negligent negli-gent treatment; In which Its enemies havo not been allowed to multiply until It has been virtually overcome by them. In 1850 a friend of mine planted a commercial pench orchard In Maryland. Mary-land. Of this orchard it. Is said: "It produced twenty-ono crops In twenty four years." Under date of 1901, the statement Is mado, In a bulletin of the Mary land Experiment Station that: "There Is almost a universal complaint among Maryland peach growers that peach growing Is no longer profitable." Similar statements may bo quoted for other peach growing states; from New York where a noted horticultural horticultur-al authority tries to explain nway the peach decline by attributing an extravagant ex-travagant optimism to the original settlers; In Texas, whero the fact of lessening profits is generally admitted, admit-ted, and In Ohio, where two of Us ofllcial authorities say: "Tho orchards do not show tho ear marks of the painstaking labor and caro . . . which ono would naturally expect to see bestowed by a class of orchard-Ists orchard-Ists whoso fruits, for a third of a century or more, have been a source of wealth." There are exceedingly few peach growers In tho United States who ro-al'pe ro-al'pe the hopelessness of .tho struggle, strug-gle, If unaided tho peach Is todny making ma-king with Its relentless foes. Personally, Per-sonally, I know of but one man who has recognized" ono of tho most Insidious In-sidious foes of tho peach, and his work of Investigation I have nover seen ment'pned In print in other than his own pamphlet. Because tills foe Is not recognized and becauso It does not mnnlfest Itself In tho young treo until tho scond or third jear, It Is being propagated In tho nurseries and distributed broadcast over tho country. coun-try. Fortunately It lb easl'y controlled. control-led. The Peach Alor.e Cannot Win The successful peach grower must havo tho energy to fight this battlo for tho pooch. Ho has successfully begun It In Now Jersey. Doctor Smith, of that state, under dato of 1011, says: "Within tho halt dozen years last peach growing In Now Jersey has been reborn, and Is now Increasing and flourishing on a Armor Arm-or basis than over." Later Information Infor-mation shows that It is still advancing. advanc-ing. It is very doubtful If a man can mako a success of peach growing who does not lovo tho work. This Is a third qualification ho should pos- BOSS. In addition he should be Indomitable, Indomit-able, patiently and systematically painstaking and a student of tho whole subject, Including every feature fea-ture of the still Unsolved marketing problem. Fortunately the number of men who are qualified to be successful peach growere Is, as compared to the number num-ber of persons who are unqualified, ready and eager to consume It, very Biuall Indeed. In the pHst It has been with the sucessful peach grower much as It has been with the successful success-ful preacher: Many havo been called but few havo been chosen. In the future, fu-ture, test of qualification for success wljl bo even moro exacting, but those who are qualified will enjoy all tho greater success. |
