Success With Stone Fruits

8/3/2019 Success With Stone Fruits

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355

1-Brother Jonathan Series"No. ioSUCCESS WITH

STONE IKIJITS

Copyright, 1906,By Tfie Fruit-Grower Company i

St. Joseph. Mo.


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"Bro.Jonathan" Series of Fruit BooksCopyrij exclusively by The Fruit-Grower

uri.lokleta published by The Fruit-GrowerMo., on different of fruit culture,which are intended to help those engaged in the pursuit ofhorticulture. All books are illustrated.No. 1"Propagating Trees and Plants." I 'scribes the pro-of budding, grafting, etc. Jt is by Prof. \\\

L. Howard of the University of Missouri, with protographsE. H. Favor, of the same Institution.No. 2 "A Treatise oh Spraying." By Prof. J. M. Stedman,entomologist of the Missouri Experiment Station. Many ofthe most d ts are shown, with full directionsombating them.No. 3"How to Grow Strawberries."By Dr. J. C. Whitten,professor of horticulture of the University of Missouri. It

- of growing Strawberries as a commercial crop or forhomiNo. 4"The Home Garden." -By Prof. Howard and Mr.it tells he \\ to make hotbeds, coldframes, etc.; howto handle them to the best advantage. The more commongarden vegetables are discussed, together with some which

No. "> "Packing and Marketing Fruits."By Prof. F. A.Waugh, of Massachusetts Agricultural College. This booktells about the eorred times for picking different fruits.

ibes different packages used in which to market them.No. 6"A Book About Bush Fruits." Bj Prof. A. T. Ei-winof Iowa Agricultural College. Treats of blackberries, rasp-berries, etc., with methods of culture; also gives recipesfor canning and preserving.No. 7"Growing Grapes."By E. H. Hiehl, Alton, 111. Mr.Riehl is a successful commercial grower, and discusses va-rieties, modes of training,

No. 8"Hints on Pruning."By Dr. J. C. Whitten. Thepruning of different kinds of fruit trees and plants is dis-cussed, with reasons for the methods recommended.No. 9"Apple Culture, with a Chapter on Pears."By Dr. JC. Whitten. This is intended to be a booklet for the prac-tical man who wants to know how to get some good fromhis orchard.No. 10"Success With Stone Fmits."By Prof. F. A. WaughThe different stone fruits are treated, with lists of bestvarieties of each. Methods of planting, pruning, etc., arediscussed for each class.

These Booklets Will Be Sent Postpaid for25c Eewch or Five for One Dollar


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Success WithStone FruitsIncluding Chapters on the Planting and Cultivation

of Cherries, Peaches, Plums, Apricots, etc.,with Description of Some of the

Best Known Varieties.

By F. A. WAUGHProfessor of Horticulture

Massachusetts Agricultural College

PUBLISHED BY THE FRUIT-GROWER COMPANYSAINT JOSEPH, MISSOURI1905


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LIBRARY of CONGRESS


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Brother JonathanSeries

Booklet No. 10.


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AUTHOR'S FOREWORDIn writing a pamphlet like this the problem ofwhat to leave out becomes a very serious one. Theauthor of this once wrote an entire book of severalhundred pages on plums alone. An equal amountof space would be required to do justice to thepeach. Yet here all the stone fruits must be treatedin less than a hundred pages.

Brevity, besides being the soul of wit, has manyother practical advantages; but in a case of thissort it has certain disadvantages. In such shortspace there can manifestly be given only the maingeneral directions for the management of each classof fruit. The fine points, as one might say, haveto be omitted. Yet it is precisely on these finepoints that success rests.Again it is necessary in a large country like ours,that practice should vary. Some things are donedifferently in Missouri from what they are in Mas-sachusetts. These differences may be of great in-terest or even importance, but they can not be dis-cussed in such a short book as this.

Still further, certain statements have to be madeas general rules, which, though very good as such,are subject to local exceptions. But this bookletleaves no room for the exceptions. The authorhopes that the reader will make due allowance forthese limitations, and that in spite of them thesechapters may arouse a greater interest in the cultureof stone fruits, and at the same time give some hintsfor their more successful management. F. A. W.


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The Stone TruitsThe tree fruits, such as are grown in orchards,

are sometimes divided into two classes: (1) Thecore fruits, and (2) the stone fruits. The first groupcontains the apple, the pear and the quince, all hav-ing a close botanical relationship, all much alikepomologically, and all requiring much the sametreatment under cultivation. The second group, thestone fruits, contains the peach, the plum, the cherry,the apricot and the nectarine. These fruits alsohave many qualities in common, whether we con-sider the botanical relationships, their pomologicalcharacters or their cultural requirements. There isgood sense therefore in the classification of our or-chard species into core fruit and stone fruits, andgood reason for treating the stone fruits all togetherin a single monograph.Before taking up in detail the different varieties

with their culture, it will be proper to present a fewgeneral facts regarding these various fruits. Fromthis discussion all purely academic information willbe ruled out. Botanical, morphological and histor-ical facts, no matter how interesting, have little bear-ing on the culture and practical management oforchards. These things can be found in the ency-clopedias.


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SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITS

The TeachUnquestionably the most important of the stone

fruits is the peach. It is widely grown in all civilizedcountries, particularly in North America, where fromOntario to Texas and from Delaware to California,it forms a commercial crop of prime consequence.The different varieties of peaches will be describ-ed elsewhere, but at this point it will be best topoint out that there are several different kinds or

types of peaches, differing in marked characters fromone another. The most recent classification ofpeaches is that published by the present writer inhis Systematic Pomology (Orange Judd Co., NewYork), from which the following grouping is taken.This classification divides the peaches into fivegroups.

1. Persian GroupTypical peaches includes suchvarieties as the Crawfords, Oldmixon, Amsden,Alexander, etc. The fruits are nearly always morefuzzy and rounder than those of Group 2.

2. Chinese Cling GroupIncluding such varietiesas Champion, Waddell, Hiley and Belle of Georgia.Elberta is usually classified here, but it seems tobe a cross having a slight strain of the blood fromGroup 1. The foliage of these trees is lighter col-ored than in Group 1, and other slighter differences,easily recognized by expert fruit men, but difficultof description, make this group a comparatively dis-tinct one. The varieties of this group are of ratherrecent introduction, but they have very quickly founda place in American horticultui e. Elberta in partic-ular has achieved a sudden and unparalleled popu-larity.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 73. Honey GroupFruit long and irregular in

form, fruits long and corrugated. Grown only alongthe Gulf of Mexico, and not of commercial import-ance anywhere. 4. Columbia GroupAlso a Southern group, beingknown in the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas and rep-

resented by such varieties as Columbia, Cobler, Lula,Texas, etc. Of little or no importance commer-cially.

5. Peen-to GroupFruit characteristically flat-tened endwise, or oblate, though not all varietiesshow this formation. Flavor of the fruit sweet andpeculiar. Tree usually not hardy. Adapted to ex-treme Southern latitudes, and expected to be ofpractical value in Florida, Southern Louisiana, etc.


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SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITS

The PlumIf the peach stands first, the plum is easily sec-ond in importance amongst the stone fruits. It covers

a wider geographical range, though it is not solargely grown commercially. Certain kinds of plumsare grown far to the northas far as there is anyform of agriculture. In fact the Americana andNigra plums are the hardiest tree fruits known.Plums are also grown as far south as any of thetree fruits of the -temperate regions. Plums are alsoadapted to a wider range of soils than any otherfruits, and also to a greater diversity of culinaryuses. In fact the plum may fairly be called the most/ersatile of fruits. The cultivation of the plum islargely shrouded in ignorance, so that successfulplum culture is rather rare; but that is another mat-ter.One prime reason for the great diversity of qual-

ities in plums lies in the fact that they are derivedfrom several different botanical species. While allthe cultivated apples are derived from one originalwild species, the plums are derived from a verylarge numbersomewhere from ten to fifty, depend-ing on what sort of a classification we make andwhat varieties we are counting in. The principalgroups are named below, but this classification ishorticultural rather than botanical.

1. European or Domestica GroupThese are the"old-fashioned" plums, the progenitors of whichwere brought from Europe by our forefathers. Thegroup has been long in cultivation, being one of themost ancient of fruits, and has many different forms.Seven principal types have been recognized, subor-dinate to the general species. These are (1) the


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 9Reine Claude type, (2) the Dame Aubert type, (3)the Prunes, (4) the Perdrigons, (5) the Diamondtype, (6) the Bradshaw type, and (7) the Lombardtype. These varieties are largely cultivated underthe name of prunes on the Pacific slope, and asplums in the Eastern states and Canadian provinces.They do not succeed well in the prairie states nor inthe South.

2. Damson GroupThe small damsons, nearlyalways dark blue in color, are known to every fruit-grower. They have considerable commercial valuein sections where they can be grown.

3. Myrobalan GroupThe Myrobalan or cherryplums are seldom grown for fruit in this country,but are very extensively used as stocks on whichto bud other plums.

4. Japanese GroupThe Japanese plums, proba-bly originally native to China, have been generallyplanted in America only during the last twenty-fiveyears, but they are now widely known and in manyplaces very popular. The trees are more peach-likethan those of the Domestica plums, are somewhatless liable to black knot, are more rapid growers,and come earlier into bearing. This early bearinghabit is a strong recommendation for the Japanesevarieties, though it seems to be offset to some ex-tent by the comparatively early failure and deathof the trees. There are several different sub-typesof the Japanese plums. Six of these can be some-what easily recognized, as follows: (1) the Botantype, (2) the Red June type, (3) the Satsuma type,(4) the Kelsey type, (5) the Hale type (6) theBerger type.

5. Gonzales GroupThis group of plums has or-iginated by the hybridization of the Japanese vari-eties with the natives, particularly with native vari-


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10 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSeties of the Wildgoose and Chicasaw groups. Itcontains such varieties as Gonzales, Waugh, Golden,Yates and Red May. These are especially adaptedto middle and southern latitudes, for which theyseem to offer great promise.

6. Omaha GroupThis group originates throughthe hybridization of the Japanese varieties with theNorthern native plums (Americanas). Up to thepersent time no varieties of commercial importancehave been introduced.

7. Wickson GroupThese varieties are hybridsof the Japanese plums with the Simon plum, PrunusSimonii. They have an upright habit of growth, andthe fruit usually has a peculiar musky flavor. Wick-son, Climax and Bartlett are typical varieties. Wick-son has been widely planted, but the group as awhole has not proved to be a commercial success.

8. The Simon PlumOnly one variety of thisspecies, Prunus Simonii, is known in this country.It is a very upright tree, with oblate early fruit. Itis grown in small quantities, especially in California,for a very early shipping plum.

9. Americana GroupThese are the plums nativeto the Central states and especially prominent inIowa, Missouri and Kansas. They are very hardyand prolific, and can be grown in many sectionswhere practically no other fruits, especially no otherplums, will succeed. Such varieties as Wyant, DeSoto, Weaver and Wolf belong to this group.

10. Nigra GroupThis is a Northern and Easternform of the foregoing. It is of much less import-ance horticulturally, though a few varieties are de-rived from it, such as Aitkin and Cheney.

11. Miner GroupThe Miner group is closelyrelated to the Americanas, from which they hardly


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 11need be separated for practical purposes, as theybehave in the same way. Miner is the best knownrepresentative.

12. Wayland Group Native to the Southernstates, especially Texas, where these varieties areof considerable value. Golden Beauty and Waylandare the best known.

13. Wildgoose GroupSometimes called the Hor-tulana plums. These are found wild in the CentralMississippi Valley, and are the best of all plums fororchard growing in many central latitudes. Milton,Wildgoose and Whitaker are the commonest vari-eties.

14. Chicasaw GroupThe Chicasaw plums in-habit low lands or sandy stretches in the Southernstates. They form small thorny trees or bushes,nearly snail red, sweet, watery fruits. Some goodorchard varieties have been derived from them, likePottawattomie, Munson and Clifford.

15. Sand PlumsThese grow wild along theWestern rivers, especially the Arkansas, the Cim-arron and the Republican, usually on sand plains orhills. While they are among the best wild plumsknown, they have never amounted to much undercultivation. There are a few budded varieties, butnone which can be recommended for orchard plant-ing.

16. MiscellaneousEven the foregoing 15 groupsdo not include all the known plums. There are sev-eral other species which furnish edible fruit, andwhich are more or less worthy of domestication.The most important of these species are thoseknown botanically as Prunus subcordata, P. mari-tima, P. gracilis and P. alleghenensis. There arealso many hybrid plums coming into notice at the


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12 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSpresent time, some of which are hard to classify byreference to any of the foregoing groups. Whileall this seems complicated, it is really not so badas it looks. It is not hard to understand the com-paratively few varieties commonly cultivated.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 13

The CherryThere are various types of cherries recognized by

the pomologists, but for all practical purposes thesemay be reduced to two, the sweet cherries and thesour.Sweet cherries usually have larger trees than the

sour varieties, with larger rough foliage, usuallywith larger, sweeter fruits. Formerly these used tobe grown to some extent throughout the Easternstates, and occasional old trees are still frequentlyseen. However, they bear very little fruit, most ofwhich is taken by the birds, the curculios and thefruit rot. Their cultivation is so precarious that veryfew men undertake it. The sweet cherry is growncommercially now only in a very restricted area inNew York state and on the Pacific coast. In thePacific states it is sometimes profitable, but else-where it may be looked on more as a curiosity thanas a money crop.Sour cherries on the other hand thrive fairly well

in nearly all the Northern states, and as far southas Maryland and Kansas. Certain varieties can begrown with success in the colder parts of Canada,so that altogether the sour cherries have a fairlywide range. Indeed, they are grown over almostthe same geographical area as the apple. The treesare small, sometimes even dwarfish, with slenderbranches and smooth leaves. The fruit is small,black or red, very tart, but very rich when ripe.Representative varieties are Morello, Richmond andMontmorency.


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14 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITS

The ApricotTwo or three different species of trees bear fruitswhich are called apricots, but the commercial vari-

eties are mostly considerably alike. Apricots aregrown commercially only in small areas in Califor-nia, and there largely for canning. The tree andfruit are about midway between those of the peachand the plum, but they do not possess any distinctadvantages over either. Men who like to have allkinds of fruits in their gardens plant apricots tokeep up the diversity, but men who are trying tomake money out of fruit-growing, mostly top theirventures with some other fruits.


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The NectarineThe nectarine has often been described as a

smooth skinned peach, and this is a very satisfac-tory characterization. The nectarine in fact is veryclosely related to the peachso closely that peachesand nectarines have not infrequently been foundgrowing on the same trees. In other words thenectarine is often merely a bud variation from thepeach. Doubtless some varieties have occurred alsoas seed variations; but it is said that if one plantsthe seed of nectarines the offspring will be mostlypeaches. The writer is ashamed to report that hehas never tried so simple and so interesting an ex-periment. The tree of the nectarine looks exactlylike that of the ordinary peach, and the fruit hasthe same general appearance and taste. Well-grownnectarines are very fine dessert fruit, and it seemsodd that in a country where peaches are grown bytrain loads, as in America, nectarines should be al-most unknown.


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Culture of the TeachThe peach may be propagated in various ways, butin practical business only two are used. Peach treesare grown from seed or from buds. In the firststages of fruit growing in nearly every section,peach orchards were grown from seed. The seed-lings do not come true to variety and so these or-chards had a mixture of big peaches and little ones,yellow and white, freestone and clings. They serveda useful purpose in their day; but with the estab-lishment of commercial peach growing they wereforced quickly to give way to orchards of namedand budded varieties.Peaches are still extensively grown from seedeverywhere, but only to be used as stocks for prop-

agating named varieties. The seedlings are buddedto the varieties desired. There are two principalsources of seed. A large majority comes from thecanning factories, and considerable amounts are col-lected from half-wild seedlings, especially in Northand South Carolina. Some of the best peach seedthe writer has ever used was collected by the De-partment of Agriculture in Mexico.Whatever source the seed comes from, it is taken

as soon as it is partially dry and either stratified orplanted immediately. It is desirable that the seedsshould not become stone dry. If the seed is to beplanted in the fall, two precautions are important.The first is that the soil should be clean and welldrained so that water may not stand on it duringthe winter; and the second is that mice and molesshould not be too numerous. These litle rodentsoften follow rows of peach seed and clean them outalmost entirely during the winter and spring. It is


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 17on account of the danger from them that the seedis more often stratified than fall planted.The stratification of the seed simply consists ofburying it in a safe place where it will freeze dur-

ing the winter. The freezing is sometimes said tobe necessary. It is not absolutely essential, but isbeneficial, especially in that it bursts the stones.When this stratification is carefully performed, itconsists of placing the seed in a shallow woodenbox or flat. Into such a box a layer of coarse sandis sifted; upon this is spread a layer of peach pits;then another layer of sand is put in; then a layer ofpeach pits; and so on until the box is full. Thisbox is then buried in a well drained place where itwill freeze, and in the spring the seed is sifted outof the sand and planted. The peach pits are some-times loosely buried in the soil without the specialpains of stratification as described above. It islargely a question of convenience and the price oflabor.Whether the seed is planted in fall or spring, itis usually run in rows about three and one-half feetapart, offering proper opportunity for horse culti-vation. The seeds are planted thickly in the rows sothat the trees will stand on an average of threeinches apart. Light, well-drained land should al-ways be chosen for the peach nursery, but it shouldnot be sterile nor too dry.

If necessary a fairly liberal fertilization should begiven. It is important that a vigorous growthshould be secured during the two years duringwhich the trees occupy the soil. If the ground hasto be fertilized, it is best to apply a liberal dressingof barnyard manure before planting the seed. Aspring top dressing of fertilizer rich in nitrogen andpotash may be given if required the first year. In


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18 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSmost cases such a top dressing is still more valua-ble if given the sprint of the second year, that is,the year during which the budded trees make theirheads.The real propagation of the peach is carried outby means of shield budding. This practice has beenso often described that it seems hardly necessary togo into it here. In the common method the workis done sometime from the last of July to the lastof September, depending on the locality andweather. It is necessary that the stocks should havereached a suitable size. They should be as large asa lead pencil or larger.The stocks must also be in such a condition thatthe bark will slip, as the budders say. The stock isprepared by stripping off the leaves near the groundand by making two incisions at right angles to oneanother forming a T. These cuts are made as nearthe surface of the ground as possible. The verticalcut should be one and one-half to two inches longand the horizontal cut across the top of the firstincision should reach one-third to one-half the dis-tance around the tree. The two corners of barkthus formed may be easily lifted and the bud whichis to be inserted is slipped down behind them. Thebuds are prepared as follows: The operator goes tothe tree of the variety which he wishes to propagate,say Elberta or Champion. On this tree he selectsstrong clean shoots of the current season's growth,being careful, as far as possible, to avoid those whichhave fruit buds. These shoots are cut off and formhis "budding sticks." The blade of each leaf is im-mediately cut off, leaving only the short leaf stalkor petiole. When the bud is to be inserted, the knifeis run under it beginning about one-half an inch be-low the bud and coming out one-quarter of an inch


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 19above it. Thus each bud with the little leaf stalkattached forms a sort of a shield, from which theprocess gets its name of shield budding.This little shield is inserted in the opening alreadymade on the stock and is tied in place with somesoft material. Raffia is now almost universally used.Raffia may be secured of any seedman or nursery-man, and costs about 15 cents a pound.The buds are almost always inserted on the northside of the stock in order to protect them somewhatfrom the hot sun. A good budder can set two tothree thousand buds a day. Some budders claim tobe able to set five thousand buds a day, but onethousand five hundred is commonly looked upon asa day's work. It is understood that the stocksshould be prepared and the buds tied in by a helper.After about ten days the stocks should be exam-

ined. By this time it may be determined how manybuds have taken. Usually the rapid growth whichthe stock makes at this time of the year causes thetie to bind inside of ten days. As soon as this bind-ing begins to show the raffia must be cut. If theweather is favorable it is possible at this time torebud any stocks which have failed to take.The following spring the nursery is gone overagain and each tree is cut back just above the in-serted bud. This particular bud should be pushedimmediately into growth. The nursery needs to begone over once or twice soon after growth starts inorder to rub off other buds which start from thestock so as to favor the buds which have been in-serted.

After one year's growth in the nursery, the treesare ready for transplanting. Two-year-old peachtrees are hardly worth handling. When the treesare not required the first year they are sometimes


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20 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITScut back to within two or three inches of the groundand are allowed to make a new growth the secondyear as much like the first year's growth as possible,This is the best way to handle them if they are tobe kept at all.Another method of propagating peach trees, con-

siderably practiced in recent years, is called Junebudding. This differs from the method already de-scribed only in the fact that the buds are set earlyin the season, usually in June, and are allowed tomake growth the same year. One year is thus savedin the propagation of the tree, but a tree budded inJune will necessarily be smaller when ready formarket in November than the ordinary one-year-oldpeach tree which was budded a year ago the previousAugust. In case of emergency, there is no objectionto using June budded trees, but they are not to begenerally recommended.

CLIMATE AND SOILThe peach thrives over a wide area of the NorthAmerican continent. It is less hardy than the appleand keeps more southern latitudes. Still peaches

are successfully grown as far north as Massachusetts,New York, and Ontario and they are commerciallysuccessful as far south as the orange belt. Duringrecent years there has been a strong tendency to de-velop peach growing in certain special localities, par-ticularly in Georgia and Eastern Texas. Michigan,Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey are still gen-erally known as important peach growing states.

It may be remarked in passing that these extra-ordinary extensions of the peach industry seem likelyto be overdone. The margin of profit is none toolarge at present. When some of the great orchardsnow being planted come into full bearing, it is plain


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 21that someone will lose money. Only the men whoare in a position to grow and handle the fruit mostcheaply can stand the enormous competition whichis likely to result.The peach prefers a comparatively light soil. Acoarse sand or a sandy or gravelly loam, if it con-

tains a reasonable amount of fertility, is alwaysgood. Heavy clay lands are inadmissable. Some-thing can be done, at least in an amateur way, to-ward adapting peaches to heavy soils by propagatingthem on plum roots. If some slow growing speciesof plum is used the peach tree is dwarfed to a cer-tain extent. This is desirable also for private gar-dens, and dwarf peach trees seem likely to be ingreater demand in the future for such uses. Thesand cherry seems to make a specially effectivestock for dwarfing the peach or nectarine.

PLANTINGPeach trees are planted at all seasons of the year,depending somewhat on the soil and climate, but

still more on the personal prejudices of the planter.In Georgia and Texas, January is a favorable month.For planting in Northern climates, spring plantingis usually preferred. Where the soil is good andthe winter weather apt to be not too rigorous, fallplanting is reasonably safe.There has always been some discussion as to theproper distance apart for peach trees. The tendencynow is to plant closer than formerly. Mr. Hale'sfamous orchards in Georgia have the trees set thir-

teen feet apart each way. Fifteen feet apart may beregarded as ample space for trees which are to besystematically pruned. Twenty feet each way is themaximum distance.


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SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSThe soil should be in a reasonably good state of

cultivation before the planting begins. Supposing itto be in good condition the planting can be largely

A Model Low-Headed Peach Tree.done by team work. The customary way is to openout a deep furrow where each row is to stand. This,is done either with a lister which may be run twice


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 23in the same furrow, or with a large plow run bothways, thus opening up a deep dead furrow. Thisfurrow for planting should be six to eight inchesdeep. The land is then marked off crosswise at rightangles to these furrows, showing where each tree isto come in the row.The planting is done by three men working to-gether. One of them carries an armful of trees al-ready pruned for planting. At each intersection hesets up one of these trees in the place which it is tooccupy. The tree is located carefully in the row bythe other two men, one of whom sights in one direc-tion while the other sights along the row at rightangles. These two men who have thus helped locatethe tree which the first man carries, now step upwith the shovels which form their equipment, andquickly cover the roots of the tree with two or threeshovelfuls of earth apiece. This is tramped in placeby the first man. Not more than fifteen seconds isrequired for all operations here described, and thenthe three men move on to the next tree. It is notnecessary that the tree should be fully covered inwith the shovels. As soon as the orchard is goneover in this way, the furrows are filled by plowingback with the plow, thus banking up against thetrees and completely filling in.

It is a matter of much convenience to have thetrees properly pruned before taking them into thefield. The best planters nowadays practice muchmore severe pruning than they did formerly, thoughvery few of them go to the extreme known as theStringfellow method. The usual practice is to cutoff all straggling roots and to leave none of themain root branches more than three or four incheslong. The larger or longer roots do no good. Thetop is usually cut back to a straight stick not more


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24 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSthan two feet long. Eighteen inches is better. Somemen prefer to cut trees down even as low as twelveinches. This is largely a matter of taste and of themethods to be subsequently followed. This pruningof the trees can be done much better in the shed be-fore planting than in the field after planting. Itgreatly facilitates the work of setting out trees.

CULTIVATIONThere has been a good deal of argument in recentyears as to whether it is better to cultivate an appleorchard or leave it in grass. But very few fruitgrowers have gone to the length of recommendinggrass for a peach orchard. Good annual cultivationis considered the best practice. In very rough landthis rule may be mitigated, but for the most partsome substitute for cultivation is undertaken.The best cultivation consists of a light plowing

of the soil in the spring as soon as the land is dryenough, followed by frequent scarifications of thesurface with such tools as the Acme cultivator, diskharrow, spring toothed harrow or the ordinarysmoothing harrow. The nature of the soil chieflydetermines the character of the implement to beused. The best peach growers cultivate their or-chards at least once a week during the middle ofthe summer and up to the ripening of the fruit. Thedrier the weather, the more frequent thorough andlong continued should the cultivation be. If theweather is excessively dry this surface cultivationshould be carried on until picking time. If theweather is not too droughty, cultivation can be sus-pended earlier, usually about July 1.In most orchards it is thought best to sow a cover

crop at the time of the last cultivation. Various


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 25plants have been tested and recommended for covercrops, but those most useful with peaches are cowpeas, crimson clover, mammoth clover, vetch, soybeans, and buckwheat. Cow peas are best for south-ern climates. Crimson clover is best for mediumlatitudes and poor soils, while soy beans, vetch orbuckwheat seem to be best for the northern or-chards.In planting either cow peas or soy beans it is best

to sow the seed in drills about three feet apart, allow-ing for one or two cultivations after planting of thecover crop. Clover, vetch or buckwheat may besown broadcast. A liberal allowance of seed shouldbe used in planting any cover crop for two reasons:(1) germination is likely to be poor at this time ofthe year, (2) a heavy stand is desired.A cover crop is valuable in many ways. Some ofits various services are as follows: (1) to add humusto the soil, (2) to add nitrogen to the soil, this ser-vice being rendered chiefly by the leguminous plants,(3) to prevent freezing of the tree roots during thewinter, (4) to prevent erosion or soil washing. Thislast is of great importance on some soils.

It may be pointed out that some truck crop maybe grown between the rows of peach trees duringthe first two years of the life of the orchard. Justwhat crops shall be selected for this purpose willdepend on the locality and market. They shouldalways be such crops as require cultivation. Irishpotatoes, sweet potatoes, musk melons, cucumbers,beets, cabbage, cauliflower, may be specifically nam-ed. Whenever such crops are grown, however, careshould be taken that they do not rob the soil of thefertility which should go to the growing peach trees.A liberal amount of fertilizer should be given for atruck c? op. It is not at all uncommon to see peach


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26 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSorchards ruined, or at least severely injured, by thisstealing of plant food during the early years of treegrowth. Unless the trees make good growth andform vigorous, thrifty tops during the first twoyears, the peach orchard might almost be as wellabandoned.

FERTILIZATIONConsiderable care is necessary in fertilizing peachtrees. It is important to encourage vigorous growthduring the first four or five years. After that the

trees should be kept in good condition, excessivegrowth being avoided. During the first four yearsthe average annual growth should not be less tha.itwelve inches and may be thirty-six inches in goodsoils. The best test for the condition of a peacntree, however, is the color of the foliage, whichshould be a rich and dark bluish green. The leafletsshould be large and somewhat crinkled. If the foli-age is sparse, small and yellow, the trees need at-tention, either in the way of cultivation or fertilizers,or both.While the trees are young they need fairly liberal

supplies of nitrogen in order to keep up vigorousgrowth. After bearing begins the amount of nitro-gen should be reduced and the potash considerablyincreased. Barnyard manure should be used in mod-erate quantities, especially in the early years ofgrowth. Commercial fertilizers are more suitableto peaches than perhaps to other fruit. Of coursethe amount of fertilizer used in every case will begoverned largely by the natural fertility in the soil.In using fertilizers to promote wood growth, spe-

cial attention should be paid to the value of earlygrowth as compared with late growth. The objec-tion to barnyard manure is that it gives up its ni-


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 27trogen slowly throughout the year and is likely tokeep the shoots growing until late in the fall. It isimportant that the wood should be allowed time toripen. If it does not harden well it is almost sureto be injured during the winter. On this accountnitrate of soda is particularly useful on peach trees.It can be applied early in the spring and will be usedup long before midsummer. Voorhees recommends amixture of three parts ground bone and two partsof muriate of potash for peach trees to be applied inannual dressings of five hundred to fifteen hundredpounds as required. This fertilizer would contain2 percent nitrogen, 13.6 percent total phosphoricacid and 20 percent potash. It may be mixed athome and is very rich, especially in potash. This isbetter adapted to fruiting trees than to newly plantedorchards. Van Slyke recommends a fertilizer made'up of fifty pounds of nitrate of soda, one hundredpounds of dried blood, two hundred pounds of cot-ton seed meal, six hundred pounds of acid phos-phate, two hundred and forty pounds of muriate ofpotash. This is more evenly balanced and comesnearer being a general purpose fertilizer. It con-tains 2.7 percent nitrogen, 7.5 percent phosphoricacid, and 10.1 percent of potash.

PRUNINGIntelligent pruning is more important in handling

peach trees than in growing apples. At least morecareful and strict attention must be given. Pruningshould begin the first year the trees are put out andshould be continued annually. While some applegrowers skip one or two years occasionally withoutpruning and suffer no apparent ill effects from it,the rapid growth of the peach tree makes such care-lessness very dangerous.


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28 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSThe first problem is the formation of a proper

head. The vase form is practically the only one ofgeneral utility. Suppose the tree to be headed backto a clean stem eighteen inches long when it is setout. If the season is good and the soil reasonablyrich, a strong growth will be made the first yearand there should be formed from three to six strong

Peach Tree Severely Headed Back.branches. The ideal number is four. The first springafter planting, the trees are very carefully gone overwith the pruning shears. Three to five branches areselected as symmetrically placed as possible about thetrunk. The others are cut clean away. The brancheschosen, of which the ideal number would be four,


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 29are cut back so as to be approximately of equallength. This length may vary from six inches tothree feet, depending on the vigor of the tree, butin a moderately good tree it should not vary muchfrom twenty inches.The succeeding spring the trees are gone over

again and the frame work which was begun at theend of the first year, is filled out so as to give thetree its desired vase form as nearly as possible. Up-on each one of the four branches left the first yeartwo or three branches are now allowed to remain.These are all cut back to a length varying fromthree to eighteen inches. The author prefers cuttingto six or eight inches at this time.

It should be said that the formation of the headwill be greatly facilitated by a certain amount ofsummer pruning, usually done the first week in July.At that time green shoots may be removed by hand,thus favoring the growth of more desirable branches.This summer pruning is especially valuable duringthe second year.The third year's pruning is very much like the

second. If anything the year-old shoots should becut back more severely than before. The writer isaware that the pruning here prescribed is more dras-tic than what is usually practiced, but experience hasshown it to be successful.After the heads are formed and the trees are bear-

ing fruit, a somewhat different system of pruning isrequired. Heading in has beccme still more im-portant, but rather more difficul to carry out. Atthe spring pruning one has to estimate the cuttingback somewhat by the number of fruit buds in sight.If the tree is prepared to bear a crop there must ofcourse be left fruit buds enough for this purpose.


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30 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSOrdinarily the fruiting shoots can be cut back halftheir length. This will be an advantage not only in

'vilv. &


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 31straggling, broken or otherwise imperfect shootsshould be removed altogether or if they are favor-ably placed they should be cut back to two buds.

A Low-Headed Peaeli Tree, Pruned Backthe Previous Spring*Especially on old trees it is always desirable to openup the heads by more or less cutting out of this kindevery spring.


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Twigs from Pruned and Unpruned Peach Trees.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 33In case the crop has been lost by winter freezing

or late spring frosts, it is nearly always best to takeadvantage of the opportunity to head in the treerather severely. Experiments conducted by thewriter agree with the general experience of peachgrowers that such heading in may go to the extentof taking out practically all the one-year-old wood.If the tree is not seriously injured, it is safe to cutback into two or even three year old wood ratherfreely. If the tree is very weak it will not bear suchsevere cutting, however, and the pruning should beconfined to the removal of the one-year-old wooddown to within three or four buds at the base ofeach shoot.Some summer pruning on old trees, especiallywhen they are in vigorous condition, is desirable. Itshould be given the first week in July or the lastweek in June. This consists in the removal of weakshoots which are choking up the center of the tree.Heading in of vigorous growing shoots at this timeof the year is not to be recommended.

DISEASES AND INSECTSThe principal diseases attacking the peach are the

yellows, leaf curl and the brown rot.The best treatment for the yellows is to dig outand burn every affected tree just as soon as discov-ered. It is not usually safe to replant with peachin the same spot, at least for several years. Theinfection of the yellows seems to remain in the soiland to attack the new tree.Leaf curl is very bad in some sections, notinfrequently defoliating the trees entirely in mid-summer. Using strong Bordeaux mixture early in

the spring before the leaves start is especially rec-


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34 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSommended. A second application should be givenjust before the blossoms open.The brown rot or monilia, which shows itselfchiefly on the fruit, but which also attacks the shootsand foliage, may be repressed to some extent bytreatment with Bordeaux mixture already recom-mended. Careful pruning of the tree and carefulthinning of the fruit also tend to mitigate the rav-ages of this disease. Gathering and burning thediseased fruit as soon as the disease appears may beworth while, or it may not. It depends largely oncircumstances, especially on the value of the crop,and the cost of labor.The principal insect attacking the peach are theborer and curculio.The peach borer attacks the trunks especially ator just below the surface of the ground. Digging

the insects out with a sharp knife or killing themwith a wire is one of the best remedies and is al-ways recommended where the borers have gainedlodgment. Something can be done to check theattacks of the borer by drawing the soil away fromthe trunks of the trees in the fall and banking itback rather high in the spring. Various nostrumsare advertised for killing peach borers, but are usual-ly of small account.

PICKING AND MARKETINGPicking and marketing peaches is discussed fully

in the Brother Jonathan Series No. 5. We may sim-ply point out here that the principal packages forhandling peaches are the Georgia six-basket carrier,the Jersey peach basket, and the Climax basket.The Georgia carrier is the best for long distance

shipping. It contains three four-quart baskets be-


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 35low, separated from three similar baskets above bya slat staging. These crates cost from fifteen totwenty dollars a hundred, complete.The Jersey basket is very satisfactory for localmarkets or short shipments. It is made in varioussizes holding from four to sixteen quarts. The six-teen quart or half-bushel size is most commonlyused and is to be recommended.The Climax peach basket holding one-fifth or one-

fourth of a bushel is used in some sections, partic-ularly in Michigan. It is a good package for fancyfruit or for long distance express shipments whererefrigerator car service is not employed.The commercial peach crop is now largely handled

in refrigerator express cars. This makes it very dif-ficult for small growers to reach a distant marketwith any satisfaction. It usually costs them more toship their fruit in unrefrigerated general expresscars and when it reaches the market it has to com-pete with fruit in much better quality brought inby refrigerator service.

VARIETIESThere are a great many good varieties of peaches.So many that it is impossible to describe half ofthem here. For the most part, however, the planting

of new orchards is confined to a few varieties. Morethan half the trees planted the country over duringthe last five years have been of a single varietyElberta. In many sections this one variety hasconstituted over nine-tenths of all the plantings.In selecting varieties for market only a few shouldbe chosen. Two varieties for a small orchard and

three for a moderate sized orchard are about right.Of course large commercial enterprises, covering


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36 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITShundreds of acres, can handle several varieties; butit is a good rule to choose one or two good sortsand to push them for all they are worth.In the home garden the selection of varietiesshould be given much wider range. There should

be one or two trees of almost every good varietywhich the local nurseryman can supply. Thereshould be early and late sorts, yellow and whitesorts, freestones and clings.

It seems worth while to draw special attention tothe white peaches. There has long been a preju-dice in favor of the yellow-flesh fruit, but this isnow disappearing to some extent. The real con-noisseurs have long picked the white peach for theirown eating, and as the public gets more peaches andlearns better what to choose, the preference for thewhite fruit spreads. This preference has recentlyreceived a special impetus through the introductionof several fine new white-fleshed varieties of theChinese Cling groupparticularly Waddell, Cham-pion and Belle of Georgia.The following list comprises the varieties prin-

cipally grown:AlexanderWhite, semi-cling, medium size, white

with red cheek, quality fair, very early.Beer's SmockYellow, free, medium to large,

oval, yellow marked with red, quality fair, late.Bequett ClingWhite cling, size medium to large,

season medium early.Bequett FreeWhite, free, size medium to large,medium early.BilyeuWhite, free, size medium, round, quality

fair, season very late.BrandywineFreestone, size large, quality fair,medium early.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 37Chair's ChoiceYellow, free, size large, quality

good, season medium.ChampionWhite, free, size large, quality good,season medium.Chili (Hill's Chili)Yellow, free, small to medium,

quality fair, early.Chinese ClingWhite, cling, large to very large,quality good, season medium. Notable as the typeof a new group of peaches.ColumbiaYellow, free, medium size, fair quality,medium, late.Crosbyiellow, free, small to medium, quality

fair to good, season medium to late.Early CrawfordYellow, free, medium to large,good quality, early to medium ripening. One of themost popular early varieties.ElbertaYellow, free, large, quality fair to good,

midseason or a trifle later. Certainly the most pop-ular and profitable variety now known, but has beenso much planted that it should be generally avoidedby market growers now setting new orchards.EmmaFreestone, large, quality good, mediumlate.FitzgeraldYellow, free, size medium, quality

fair to good, rather early. This variety has beenhighly recommended of late for planting in northernlatitudes on account of the hardiness of the tree.FosterYellow, free, very large, good, indeed one

of the best; midseason.Belle of GeorgiaWhite, free, medium to large,

quality good to extra good, season medium late. Oneof the best new varieties.Greensboro White, semi-free, large, mediumquality, moderately early.HaleWhite, semi-free, small, quality fair, early.Formerly popular, but not much planted now.


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38 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSHeath ClingWhite, cling, size large, quality best,very late. A fine peach, especially for canning.HileyWhite, free, small to medium, good, early.A good early market sort.Hynes (Hynes' Surprise)White, semi-free, size

small, quality fair to good; late.KalamazooYellow, free, size medium, quality

good, medium early.Late CrawfordYellow, free, large, quality goodto best, late. One of the most popular varieties, butnow largely supplanted by Elberta.Lemon ClingYellow, cling, size large, quality

best, mid-season. A very fine peach, and used forcanning, especially in California.Lemon FreeYellow, free, large size, qualitygood, late.Mamie RossYellow, cling, medium size, quality

good, early.Mountain RoseWhite, free, size medium, quality

good, early.Old MixonWhite, either free or cling, large, goodquality, medium late. Two varieties are sold underthis name, one cling, the other nearly freestone. To

be more exact we might say that Old Mixon variesvery greatly, so that there are really several vari-eties passing under this name. Now being supplant-ed to some extent by Belle of Georgia.

RiversWhite, free, medium size, good, early.This is an old English variety, formerly popular.SalwayYellow, free, size good, quality moderate,late.SmockYellow, free, medium size, quality fair to

good, season late.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 39SneedWhite, cling, medium size, quality poor,very early. Planted to some extent on account of

its very early ripening, but is not worth growing.St. JohnYellow, free, size medium to large, good,

early.StumpWhite, free, large, good, medium late.ThurberWhite, free, medium size, good, early.TillotsonWhite, free, medium to large, good,

early.TriumphYellow, semi-cling, small, poor quality,early.TrothWhite, free, small, poor, medium early.WaddellWhite, free, early or medium. A good

early market sort.WaterlooWhite, semi-cling, small, fair quality,very early.WheatlandYellow, free, large, good, mid-season.


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The PlumThe plum has certain advantages over the peach.

It can be grown over a wider range of territory.It fills a longer season. It is adapted to more di-verse uses. It ought to be more widely grown. Ifplums could be properly presented to the generalmarket, the demand for them would be greatly in-creased. PROPAGATIONThe plum is propagated from seed, by buds, andby grafts. It may also be propagated in other ways,

but these three methods are used commercially.Plums do not come true from seed except in rarecases. The seedlings are grown therefore either tosecure new varieties or to furnish stocks upon whichnamed varieties are budded or grafted. Plum seedis rather hard to secure in commercial quantities.The usual source of supply is France.Plum seeds are handled exactly like the peach

seed. That is, they are either planted in the fallwhere the nursery rows are to be, or they are strat-ified until spring, when they are planted in thesame way. This stratification or burying of theseed is practiced exactly as described for the peach.On account of the difficulty of securing seed, veryfew nurserymen grow their own stocks. Thesestocks are largely imported from France. The chiefexception to this rule of buying stocks comes in thepractice of budding plum on peach roots. Thepeach makes a first rate stock for plums, especiallyon light lands and in southern latitudes. The peachseedlings are grown in nursery rows exactly aswhen they are to be budded with peach buds. At


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 41the proper time they are budded instead with thedesired varieties of plums.There are many different kinds of stocks used forplums in this country, having very diverse charac-ters. It is important that some note should be madehere of these different kinds. The most importantstocks are as follows: Myrobalan, peach, Mariana,Americana, Apricot, and sand cherry, named ap-proximately in the order of their use. The Myrob-alan stock is the one chiefly imported from France,and the one best adapted to the propagation of allkinds of plums. The peach stock is grown fromseed in the nurseries where it is to be budded, asexplained above. The Mariana is grown from cut-tings in the Southern states and claims cheapnessas its chief advantage. The Americana stocks aregrown from the seed of native plums and are usedchiefly in the prairie states. They make excellentstocks, especially for native plums. They have aconsiderable dwarfing effect upon the varieties ofthe Japanese or Domestica groups. The apricotstocks are used to some extent, especially in Cali-fornia, where the apricot seed may be secured cheap-ly from the canneries. They have about the samevalue as the peach stocks. The sand cherry has notbeen used much except in an experimental way, buthas been shown to have important good qualities.It makes good trees in the nursery and the plumsrooted upon it are hardy. It also has a markedeffect in dwarfing most varieties of plums, and isindeed the most promising dwarfing stock for thisclass of fruit.

In the majority of nurseries plums are shield-budded in precisely the same manner as describedfor budding the peach. The work is done at thesame time of the year except that certain stocks,


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42 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSspecifically the Americana and sand cherries, requireearly budding. June budding is occasionally prac-ticed with plums, but is less successful than withpeaches. The only varieties for which June bud-ding can be at all recommended are those of theJapanese and Japanese hybrid classes.

Grafting is sometimes employed in the propaga-tion of plums. Where it can be conveniently used,it is altogether satisfactory. Some nurserymen re-gard it as a cheaper and safer method of propaga-tion than budding. For the most part the practiceof propagating plums by grafting is confined toMinnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and that regiongenerally where the Americana stock is used. Thework may be done either by the whip graft methodor by side grafting. In either case the grafting isdone in the cellar during November, December, andJanuary, and the grafts are laid away in moist saw-dust or are buried in sand until spring. They arethen planted out in nursery rows four to six inchesapart and are given good cultivation until they areready for transplanting.Plum trees are transplanted at one or two yearsold, very seldom at three years old. The strong

growing varieties of the Japanese and Japanesehybrid groups are best transplanted when one yearold from the bud. This applies also to the stronggrowing nursery trees of the Wildgoose group andin some cases also to trees of the Americana group.The varieties of Domestica or European plums areusually better held in the nursery until two yearsold. This applies to most of the Americana andsuch other varieties as do not make a strong branch-ing growth during the first year.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 43Where the plum trees are allowed to remain the

second year in the nursery, special care should betaken to form the heads at the proper height andwith due balance of branches.SOIL AND CLIMATE

Plums will thrive in almost all soils and climates,providing suitable varieties are chosen, providingthey are propagated on proper stocks, and providingthey have reasonable care. On light soils the Jap-anese and Wildgoose varieties prove most satisfac-tory. In alluvial river bottoms the varieties of theAmericana, Wildgoose, Wayland, and Chicasawgroups are most at home. On gravelly hillsides onloams and clays the Domestica varieties are apt tosucceed best. We have already indicated that peachstocks are best for light soils. The Myrobalan stockis probably best of those named for heavy soils,although such special stocks as St. Julien or theso-called horse plum may prove still better in crit-ical cases. The peach stock does not succeed in aheavy soil nor in Northern climates.

PLANTINGDifferent kinds of plums have such diverse habits

of growth that it is rather hard to give a singlerule for planting and managing them. Some vari-eties in good soil grow to a spread of branches offorty feet. Other plum trees reach a maximumgrowth with a spread of ten feet, or even less.There are striking differences amongst the commer-cial varieties so that one must regulate his plantingto some extent according to the kinds chosen. Thereis undoubtedly a strong tendency at the present time,especially marked amongst the best growers, to


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44 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSplant trees closer than formerly. This is the sametendency which we find manifest amongst theplanters of peach and apple trees. We have alreadyremarked on Mr. Hale's plan of planting peachtrees thirteen feet apart, and the opinion has beenexpressed that fifteen feet apart is ample room formost peach trees. In like manner we may say veryconfidently that fifteen feet apart each way is amplespace for plum trees, though the writer is awarethat this statement will be criticised by some. Undera proper system of management, twelve feet in eachdirection is quite sufficient, and many of the stand-ard market varieties can be handled when plantedten feet apart. For most persons, however, andunder careless systems of pruning, twelve to fifteenfeet should be recommended.

CULTIVATION AND GENERAL CAREThe plum orchard requires the same kind of cul-

tivation as the peach orchard and for the same rea-sons. It has been customary in former times toenclose the plum orchard with chicken wire andmake it the scene of the chicken yard. Where alimited number of trees are grown this is fairlysatisfactory. The theory is that the chickens col-lect many of the insects attacking the plums, andparticularly the plum curculio. When the chickensare allowed to run amongst the plum trees, it isusual to omit any other cultivation. This is a fair-ly satisfactory method of handling plum trees inlimited quantities for a home supply of fruit, but itcannot be undertaken on an extensive commercialscale.One peculiarity which plums exhibit in a some-what striking degree is that of self sterility of the


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 45blossoms. It has been shown by extensive scien-tific experiment and any amount of practical ex-perience that many, or even most, varieties of plumswill not bear fruit when standing by themselves.The blossoms require pollen from flowers of someother varieties in order that they may be success-

A Well-Kept Flum Orchard.fully fecundated. Unless this fecundation, pollina-tion, or impregnation (whatever one chooses tocall it) is successfully accomplished, the seed doesnot develop in the plum, and if the seed does notdevelop, the fruit also fails to develop. It is neces-sary therefore to see that the varieties are some-what mixed in the orchard. Two or more differ-


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46 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSent varieties should be placed in adjacent rows, orat the most there should not be more than four orfive rows of a single variety before one of anothervariety is planted. As there are considerable differ-ences in the blossoming season of the different va-rieties, it is important to arrange this mixture ofdifferent kinds so that those which blossom at thesame time may stand next to each other.Plums require fully as much plant food as peachtrees and for the most part of the same kinds. It

is safe to use the formulas recommended for fer-tilizing peaches also upon the plum and to applythe same quantities.

PRUNINGAt the time of planting, the plum trees may beheaded back in the way recommended for peach

trees. In other words, they are headed to a singlestraight stem and this stem is shortened in to alength of twelve to twenty-four inches. This methodis almost inevitable in handling one-year-old trees.When the trees are transplanted at the age of twoyears, the heads should be properly formed in thenursery, as suggested under the subject of propa-gation. It is then necessary at pruning time onlyto cut back the side branches which have alreadybeen formed and to leave the whole tree in sucha condition that it will make a well balanced top.The head is formed on the young tree much in

the same manner as that described for peaches.Considerable variations have to be made, it is true,with different kinds of plums, owing to their greatdiversity of growth. The Japanese varieties likeChabot and Satsuma and Red June may be man-aged on almost precisely the same lines as peach


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 47trees. On the other hand the Americana varietiesand the Damsons, which make thick bushy thornyheads, have to be allowed their own willful wayto a much larger extent. With these thick tops thepruning consists largely in cutting out the crowd-ing branches and keeping the head partially opened.Summer pruning is particularly desirable withplums. Probably it would be best with most varie-ties to make the principal pruning of the year comein June or not later than the first week in July.Some pruning during the dormant season, whichmeans usually in March, is also desirable. Whenthe principal pruning is not given in June, therewill be, of course, more need of attention at thecustomary March pruning.Some excellent plum growers have a system of

pruning which consists in the annual shearing ofthe top of the tree. All branches are cut off nearlylevel on top, as when a man's hair is cut pompadour,or as when a hedge is pruned. This is not a badmethod especially with the Domestica varieties andthe Damsons. It cannot be recommended for thevarieties of the Japanese class.

DISEASES AND INSECTSThe plum tree is subject to the attack of various

diseases, several of which assume economic import-ance at times. For the most part, however, onlythe black knot and the brown rot of the fruit cutany figure.The black knot has long been considered thespecial bane of the plum grower. One sees not in-

frequently plum trees ruined by this disease andsometimes whole orchards are swept away. It isthe almost universal experience of careful fruit-


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48 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSgrowers, however, that a well managed plum or-chard suffers very little from this disease. It hasbeen repeatedly shown that the black knot can becontrolled by proper management. In the firstplace the seriously diseased trees and the wildplums or cherries standing in the fence rows shouldbe cut out altogether and burned. After that care-ful treatment with Bordeaux mixture, especially inthe early spring before the buds start, will do some-thing to check the disease. The most importantmeans of control, however, lies in the timely useof the pruning shears. Every plum tree should begone over during the last half of June, when thenew knots first begin to show, and all knots shouldbe removed and burned. If it is not thought tooexpensive, a second examination of the trees shouldbe made about the middle of July, all knots beingonce more removed and burned. At the time of thecustomary pruning in March, when all the remain-ing knots can be easily seen, special care should betaken once more to remove and burn every vestigeof a black knot. While this sounds in the tellinglike a considerable amount of work, it really is notso. It can all be done by any boy with sharp eyes.A good man can easily go over one hundred treesa day under ordinary circumstances.The brown rot which attacks the plums just asthey are about to ripen is the same as that whichinjures large quantities of peaches. The treatmentis also the same. The trees should be kept in goodcondition, the fruit thinned, and Bordeaux mixtureshould be used. Early applications are especiallyadvised.Another disease which is sometimes of consider-able importance to plum orchards, but which is dis-tinctly less destructive than the two already men-


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 49tioned, is the shot-hole fungus. This fungus killssmall spots in the leaves, and these spots fall awayleaving the foliage with the appearance of havingbeen riddled by a charge of bird shot. At timesthis fungus is so effective in its operations thattrees are nearly defoliated in mid-summer. At suchtimes the results are serious. Careful sprayingearly in June with Bordeaux mixture, will reducethe amount of damage from this fungus also.

It should be particularly noted that in sprayingplum trees with all ordinary fungicides and insec-ticides special care must be taken. The foliage ofplums is particularly liable to injury and this ismost emphatically true of the Japanese varieties.It is practically necessary to use Bordeaux mixtureor Paris green at not more than one-half thestrength employed on apples. Special care mustbe taken to see that an excess of lime is alwayspresent in the Bordeaux mixture, and the followingformula will give such results: Four pounds of cop-per sulphate, six pounds of good lime, one hundredgallons of water.Only one insect of importance attacks the plumand that is the curculio. It is usually regarded as

a scourge and many persons consider it alone tomake plum growing impossible. The scheme ofplanting plum trees in the chicken yards for thepurpose of circumventing this insect has alreadybeen mentioned and may be safely recommended.Spraying with arsenical poisons will reduce thedamage to some extent. The treatment usuallyrecommended is to jar the plum trees in the earlymorning, shaking down the semi-dormant beetlesupon a sheet or some other receptacle spread tocatch them. Special machines or curculio catchers


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50 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSare made for this work and are to be highly recom-mended where a hundred or more trees are grown.

It has been the experience of the writer, however,that in nearly all cases the work of the curculio is anegligible factor in plum growing. This may soundlike a rash statement, but it is supported by theexperience of years. The fact is the work of thecurculio is nearly all done early in the season be-fore the time of the so-called June drop. Duringthe month of June growers expect a considerablefall of young fruit from the plum trees. The writerhas shown in extensive studies carried on someyears ago, that this June drop is due to variouscauses, amongst which the lack of pollination andthe work of the plum curculio stand pre-eminent.When this June drop is over a considerable propor-tion of the curculio punctured plums have fallento the ground. Many of these which have remainedare already marked for failure. After all this it isstill necessary in a large majority of cases, to thinthe remaining fruit by hand. During this operationof thinning there are removed practically all thepunctured plums still hanging on the trees. Thecurculio is therefore to a certain extent a help inthinning the fruit from over-burdened plum trees.In fact it is the writer's experience that almostwithout exception the curculio is of more assistancethan damage.

VARIETIESThe list of varieties of plums grown is compar-atively longer than in any other section of fruits,

except the apple. Certain varieties which are veryvaluable in one part of the country are of no usein other places. The selection of proper varietiestherefore becomes a difficult matter. One should


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 51always take great care in selecting plums to learnwhat varieties are successful in his neighborhood.A very good general idea can usually be formed byobserving what group each variety belongs to.Thus the Japanese plums are the leaders for some

Crate of Plums.localities, the Domesticas for others, while in Iowaand Dakota the Americanas alone can be relied on.In the following list only a few of the leading

sorts have been named, and these have been chosenwith a view to covering all parts of the country.


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52 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSIn each case the group to which the variety be-longs has been indicated in parenthesis immediatelyfollowing the name.Abundance (Jap.)Tree upright, unhealthy andshort lived, fruit medium to large, red, sweet, qual-ity best of the Japanese, medium early.American Eagle (Americana)Tree vigorous and

healthy, hardy, size medium, quality fair to good,medium early.Apple (Jap.)Tree spreading, vigorous, healthy,fairly productive, fruit large, red, fair to good,medium late. A promising new variety.Arch Duke (Domestica)Tree good, fruit blue,medium large, good quality, early.Bavay (Reine Claude)Much like Green Gage,

but later and larger; sometimes called Late GreenGage. Tree moderately vigorous and prolific, fruitround, green, very best quality, specially fine forcanning, late. Where this plum will succeed it isone of the best varieties known, but it is hardly evera profitable market sort.Blue Imperatrice (Domestica)One of the best

large blue plums. Tree good, fruit large and good,medium late.Burbank (Jap.)Tree sprawling, vigorous, healthy,early bearing and very productive, fruit large, round,slightly pointed, red, fine in appearance, good qual-ity, especially for canning, midseason or later. Thisis by all odds the best of the Japanese plums.Chabot (Jap.)Tree vase-form, good, prolific;fruit medium size, round, somewhat pointed, lightred, good medium late. One of the profitable Jap-anese varieties.Chalco (Hybrid)Tree vigorous, rather sprawl-

ing, fruit large, oblate, red, quality fair to good.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 53Cheney (Nigra)Tree upright, extremely hardy,

fruit small to medium, oval compressed, dark red,quality good when fully ripe. One of the best vari-eties for extremely cold localities.Climax (Hybrid)Tree rather upright, moderatebearer; fruit medium size, rather heart shaped, red,freestone, quality good, early.

Cluster (Damson)Tree fairly vigorous, healthyand very prolific; fruit medium size, blue, goodquality, medium late.De Soto (Americana)Tree hardy, rather small;fruit rather small, red, quality good. A favoritevariety in Iowa and Minnesota.Englebert (Domestica)Tree vigorous, upright,prolific; fruit blue, medium size, quality fair to good.A good market sort.

Excelsior (Hyb'rid)Tree willowy, slender; fruitmedium size, heart shape, red, good, medium early.Has proved especially adapted to extreme southernlatitudes.

Field (Domestica)Tree rather small, fruit blue,or purplish, medium size, good quality, early.Forest Garden (Americana)Tree vigorous and

hardy; fruit round, red, good, ripening mid-season.Frogmore (Damson)Tree smallish, healthy; fruitmedium size, blue, good, late. A profitable sort.German Prune (Domestica)Fruit blue, freestone,small, long compressed, fair to good, late. A profit-able market sort, but there are better.Georgeson (Jap.)Tree large, spreading, prolific;fruit large, yellow, good quality, fine for canning.One of the best canning plums, but undeservedly un-popular on account of its yellow color.Golden Beauty (Wayland)Tree healthy, spread-ing, prolific; fruit small to medium, yellow, good,late. Specially suited to Texas and the South.


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54 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSGolden Drop (Domestica)Coe's Golden Drop.

Silver Prune. Tree large, rather straggling, latebearing; fruit large, egg-shaped, yellow, good, me-dium to late.Gonzales (Hybrid)Tree a good grower, but notvery healthy, and not hardy in the northern states;

fruit large, red, good to best, midseason. One ofthe most promising new hybrid plums.Grand Duke (Domestica)Tree good, early andprolific bearing for a domestica; fruit large, blue,

good, medium late. Worth planting.Green Gage (Domestica)Tree small, slow grow-

ing; fruit small, green, extra good, medium ripen-ing. An old favorite.

Gueii (Domestica)Tree good; fruit blue, mediumsize, fair to good quality, midseason. A profitablemarket plum of its class.Hale (Jap.)Tree very strong grower, late bear-ing and not prolific; fruit medium to large, good.Hawkeye (Americana)Tree medium size, pro-

lific; fruit medium size, red, slightly flattened, good,medium late. One of the best of the group.Italian Prune (Domestica) Fellenburg. Treeround-topped, rather small and slow glowing, pro

lific after reaching a certain age; fruit blue, egg-shaped, large, good, late. A very profitable sort insome sections.Jefferson (Domestica)Tree straggling and un-

healthy, not very prolific; fruit medium to large,yellow with red cheek; quality very best, early.Commonly regarded as the standard of quality.Kelsey (Jap.)Fruit large, heart-shaped, yellow,

freestone. Tree is not hardy enough to succeednorth of Louisiana, though it occasionally bearsfurther north.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 55Lombard (Domestica)Tree hardy and prolific;

fruit medium size, purplish, quality fair to good,early. A popular plum because it stands neglect.There are many better varieties.Miner (Miner)Tree hardy and prolific; fruit

small, red, good, medium late.Pottawattomie (Chicasaw)Tree healthy, fairly

hardy; fruit medium size, brilliant red, good, me-dium late.Red June (Jap.)Tree vase-form, prolific; fruitmedium size, dark red, quality fair, early. A profit-able early market plum where the Japanese varie-ties succeed.Satsuma (Jap.)Tree spreading, vigorous; fruit

large, red outside and in, good quality, fine for can-ning, late. A queer variety, bearing profusely insome neighborhoods, and almost sterile in others;a very profitable sort where it succeeds.Wayland (Wayland)Tree vigorous and healthy,prolific, fruit small, red, good, extra fine for pre-serving or jelly making, late.Weaver (Americana)Tree sound and good; fruitmedium size, red, good, medium season.Wickson (Hybrid)Tree upright, vigorous, rathertender in bud, a somewhat uncertain bearer; fruit

large, heart-shaped, red, partially free-stone, qualityvariable, medium late. Has sometimes proved aprofitable market plum, but generally uncertain.Wildgoose (Wildgoose)Tree spreading, vigor-

ous, prolific; fruit medium size, brilliant red, good,midseason. One of the best and most profitablevarieties in many localities, especially in centralstates and middle latitudes.Wolf (Americana)Tree hardy and prolific, fruitsmall to medium, good, midseason.


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56 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSWyant (Americana)Tree hardy and prolific;fruit medium size, red, good quality, midseason.Yellow Egg (Domestica)Tree upright, not over

healthy, moderately productive; fruit large to verylarge; yellow, egg-shaped, good, especially for can-ning.


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The CherryIt appears to an enthusiastic horticulturist, of

course, that all kinds of fruit-growing are more orless neglected. Personally I am prone to see op-portunities in plum growing which no one else canappreciate. But in all seriousness it can be said thatthe cherry is more neglected in proportion to itsmerits than any other orchard fruit known inAmerica. Sour cherries are really very easy to growand thrive in nearly all soils and climates. Theybear early and regularly. The fruit is very muchenjoyed by everyone and always commands a highprice in the market. Under these circumstances itis surprising how very few orchards there are onwhich any attempt is made at commercial cherrygrowing, and even more surprising to see how fewfarms there are on which enough cherries are grownfor home use.

PROPAGATIONThe propagation of the cherry is in a general way

similar to that of the peach. Stocks are grownfrom seed and these are budded with the desiredvarieties. The details of the work, differ consider-ably.The Mazzard cherry is usually recommended as astock, but as a matter of fact the Mahaleb cherryis the one chiefly used in America. It is cheaper,grows more readily, works easier in the nurseryand has many other practical advantages. It is truethat these advantages are mostly in favor of thenurseryman rather than the orchardist, but there isnot much to show that the fruit-grower would bebetter off if his cherry trees could be budded on


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58 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSMazzard stocks as the books say they ought to be.In the Northwestern states the seedlings of the com-mon Morello species, or sour cherries, are used forbudding or grafting. They are very hardy andmake excellent trees. Where they can be grownand budded cheaply there is nothing against them.Some of the wild native cherries are occasionallyused for stocks particularly the bird, pigeon or pincherry (Primus pennsylvanica). This is extremelyhardy and fairly easy to work. It seems to be asatisfactory stock, especially in Northern climates.For the most part the cherry stocks, particularly

the Mahalebs, are imported from Europe. Some-times the cherry seed is imported and the stocksgrown in this country. Whether the stocks are tobe grown from the imported or native seed, the pitsare either planted as soon as they are ripe or theyshould be kept moist (not wet) and may be strati-fied early in the fall. This stratification is carriedout as explained under the propagation of the peach.It is important that the seed should never be allow-ed to become stone dry.The seeds are planted in the nursery row either

in the fall or spring, the rows being three to threeand one-half feet apart and the seedlings three tosix inches apart in the row. Or the seeds are plant-ed in a seed bed much more thickly, with the rowseight or nine inches apart and are cultivated herefor the first year. At the end of the first year,either in fall or spring, these seedlings are trans-planted from the seed bed to the nursery row, wherethey are budded the following August. In any caseit is unusual to bud cherry stocks the first year.The pin cherry referred to above is an exceptionto this rule.


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 59The buds are inserted in precisely the same man-

ner as practiced with the peach and plum. Thecherry is occasionally root grafted either by thewhip-graft union or the side-graft union, and thesemethods are entirely successful. It is not oftenpracticed, however.

SOIL AND CLIMATEThe cherry adapts itself readily to many kinds ofsoils, though it does not flourish well in extremelyheavy nor in extremely light soils. Rich loose fer-

tile gravelly loam is the best. The cherry does notsucceed well in southern latitudes, being more athome in the north. Some varieties are hardy farto the northward, in this respect surpassing eventhe hardiest apples. The sweet cherry is particu-larly fastidious with regard to soil and climate. Atany rate it is not successfully grown except in verylimited areas in North America.

PLANTINGThe actual work of planting a cherry tree is per-formed as in planting a peach tree. When a con-

siderable number are to be set out, it is best tolighten the labor by using a plow as recommendedin the chapter on peach growing. Trees may betransplanted either at one year old or two yearsold. If they are carried two years in the nursery,pains should be taken to head them low. The pres-ent fashion prevailing in nearly all the Americannurseries is to head the trees too high. It is de-sirable that the head should be formed within twelveor eighteen inches of the ground, although it ismuch commoner to see them headed at three to fivefeet. This plan of low heading is especially import-


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60 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSant in the Western states. When one year old treesare bought from the nursery the planter has theprivilege of heading them to suit themself. Whenthe trees are received they should be prepared bypruning the roots and tops as described for peaches.That is, all loose broken roots should be cut awayand all main root branches up to within three orfour inches of the trunk. The top should then becut back to a straight stick eighteen inches long,if the tree is a yearling, or if the tree is a two-year-old, the branches should all be cut back to threebuds each and the leader shortened in as much aspossible.

Fall planting succeeds admirably with cherries inmoderate climates and in good soils. Spring plant-ing is rather more common, but only because ithas become the custom to deliver and handle nur-sery trees in the spring.Sour cherries can be grown rather thickly on the

ground. Small topped varieties like Morello can besuccessfully managed even as close as eight or tenfeet apart. It is customary, however, to plant mostsour cherries twelve to fifteen feet apart and thisis the distance to be publicly recommended. Wheresweet cherries are grown more distance is required.They should be planted sixteen to twenty feet aparteach way.

CULTIVATION AND CARECherries require practically the same cultivationand care and the same fertilization as plums. The

cultivation should cease about midsummer, say July1, or after the crop has been picked. At this timeit is advantageous to sow a cover crop. The samesorts as are used for peaches, viz, cow peas, soy


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 61beans, vetch, clover, crimson clover, etc., are to berecommended for cherries.Cherries are sometimes said to become bark-bound. This is remedied by slitting the bark, be-ginning at the lower branches and carrying theknife down to the ground. Three or four such slitsmay be made in each trunk running down clearthrough the sap wood. It is a question whetherthis does any good or not, but it probably does notdo any harm. PRUNINGThe cherry tree stands about midway between

the plum and the peach in its habit of growth aswell as in its habit of fruit bearing. The pruningof the tree therefore takes a similar middle course.Care should be taken with young trees the firsttwo or three years of growth to secure strong sym-metrical well balanced heads. This is done by care-ful annual pruning, or better still, by two or threeprunings each year. After the heads have beenformed and the trees have been brought safelyinto bearing comparatively little pruning is re-quiredperhaps less on .cherries than on anyother fruit trees. It is necessary only to re-move the broken, binding or interfering branches,and occasionally to open up the head slightlyby taking out limbs where they are crowding.Sour cherries particularly submit well to a moresevere method of repressive pruning, such asis sometimes practiced on plums and peaches.In these prunings the annual growth is severe-ly headed in each year. From one-third tothree-quarters of the last annual shoots are thusremoved at a spring pruning and this process is re-peated annually. Indeed it is very important that


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62 SUCCESS WITH STONE FRUITSthe pruning should be regular and uniform, if thesemethods are to be adopted at all. They are verysuccessful when judiciously and thoroughly carriedout. They produce mortifying results, however,when wrongly managed.

PICKING AND MARKETINGCherries should always be picked with the stemson. There is no exception to this rule. The stems

are valuable. They help to carry the fruit to mar-ket. Moreover when the stems are plucked out,the juice always exudes from the wound and thefruit quickly becomes moist and sticky. In com-mercial orchards the picking is usually done bywomen and girls and paid for it at the rate of twocents a quart.

Cherries are quite commonly sold in quart bas-kets of the same kind as are used for strawberries.These baskets are crated and shipped in the sameway. Where cherries are abundant they can besold in larger packages, and ought to be. The Climaxbaskets of the five, eight and ten pound sizes areperhaps the most practical packages for handlingcherries in the market. Cherries are usually soldby the quart, but sometimes by the pound. This isa sad commentary on the quantities offered in mostmarkets. Cherries ought to be sufficiently abund-ant so that everybody could buy them by the peckor bushel.

DISEASES AND INSECTSThe sweet cherry is especially subject to all dis-

eases and insects within reach. It is hardly worthwhile to give here a list of the diseases and insectswhich are to be expected on sweet cherries. The


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FRUIT-GROWER CO., ST. JOSEPH, MO. 63sour cherry is remarkably free from serious insectdepredations and fungus attacks. The leaf spotsometimes defoliates the tree early in the year, butnot often enough to injure the tree seriously.Spraying with Bordeaux mixture will largely pre-vent the damage. The black knot occasionally ap-pears on neglected cherry trees, but the methodsdescribed for the repression of the black knot ofthe plums will more easily prevail against the blackknot of the cherry. The black knot of the cherry,by the way, is caused by exactly the same fungusas that which causes the black knot of the plum.The disease may be readily communicated fromthe cherry trees to the plums, or vice versa.The curculio sometime attacks sour cherries, butnot often to such an extent as to cause measurableinjury. The aphis or plant louse is apt to be theworst insect enemy of the sour cherry. When thisappears early in the season, as it is apt to do in dryweather, it may cause very serious damage. If itcomes late in the year, that is after July 15, thedamage is considerably less, and after August 1 itmight as well be disregarded. There is hardly anyway of combating this aphis after it has once gainedlodgment on the young leaves. Soon after it be-gins work the leaves are curled backward, thuseffectively protecting the lice. If they are discov-ered, however, before they have secured perfectlodgment, they may be successfully treated withkerosene emulsion.To make kerosene emulsion, dissolve one-half apound of soap shaved fine in one gallon of boilingwater. Remove t

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