Daily Republican., 1879-06-04
THE PEACH CROP.
Letters from Prominent Peach
Growers IN the Peninsula.
LETTER FROM TOWNSEND.

GrOWefo IN tnc Fen1nBuu0.
LETTER PROM TOWNSEND.
TOWNSEND, June %, 10.
MEssRs. G. w. VERNON & SoNs:-I re-
ceived your circular requesting me to
give you for publication, opinions OF
the peach prospect, and what causes
have operated against full crop. |
will cheerfully give you and all the
public my opinions on the subject, and
they can judge whether said opinions
are worth much or little. II is right
that farmers and fruit growers should
exchange views. seldom travel any
where that do not learn something.
believe the general experience of
peach growers that a peach tree Is in.
jured In winter if the Thermometer
falls below zero, in fact If the buds are
the least swelled they cannot stand 1t at
zero; it will kill them If very severe
cold weather continues.
Peach buds may stand degree
below zero for one day, but s or de-
grees below for two or three days will
not only kill all the buds but the wood
the buds are on, for all peaches are
grown on the wood made the year be-
fore. The last winter buds passed
through in fine condition, all through
March and into April then the wealth
er moderated, the buds swelled, and
about the 18th or 18th of April bloom
ed out in the lower part of the State, up
here about the goth, and from one to
three days later reached Middletown
and up to the northern limit of the
peatl district, the Canal or st. Georges
Station. Now the first great ordeal the
peach prospect has to pass through al.
ter escaping the winter Is the blossom
ing. 1t of course takes change of
warmer weather to make the buds
swell and burst ont into bloom, and it
is important that this warm change
continues at least six days after full
bloom. This helps in two ways; it
melts the snow on the Allegheny noun
tains, so that, as is most always the
ease, the wind shifts to northwest. 1t
is not so cold as if great bodies of snow
laid in the mountains; and second,
when the blossoms open, there is a
middle sem or pistule at the but. On
lower end of this there is formed
youns peach about the sizs Of small
shut.
In five Or six days of good weather
this little peach grows to the size OF a
small pea and fills up the but of the
blossom so that if light frost does
come, the cold air cannot get in the
cell, and the coating Of the blossom
protects it. Now, this year the peach
trees in Sussex and up to the middle OF
Kent, were in this condition of compar
ative safety, when the cold of the first
days of May come on, and the further
up the colder, and the blossoms or
rather the young peaches in them in a
more exposed condition were killed.
The most of the out ends of the pist.
ules or the stems leading and fast to
the young peach were frozen black.
Then if there had been a change Of
warm dry weather a good many frozen
pistules or stems would no doubt have
separated from the young peach, but
ttc weather changed to warm with
rains and iogs every day, remarkable
thing for the early part Of May. The
caps on the old blossoms became wet,
and with the frosted pistules formed a
rot and the wet blossoms held enough
OF wet like a rag, TO keep up decompo-
sition of the already frozen pistules
that caused the rot, and the frost just
previous for nearly every night in the
week had bursted the sap vessels on the
peach twigs that the young peaches
were formed on, did not give a sufficient
supply Of sap to the young peaches, or
great many more would have held
on.
Just after the rot, what was left the
cursulia attacked and the extent of the
damage done by them will not be
known for about ton daysy yet, when the
stone and seed harden. This curculia
is terrible pest; it is but little longer
than tick, gray like spider, with a
sharp nose like Geld chisel, and in
about three weeks from the time it
sticks its snout in to deposit an egg, it
will hatch, making worm one half an
inch long, in many cases in three
weeks. 1t has generally run Its race
efore the stone has hardened and
when it has not the stone stops 1t rom
getting to the kernel OF the peach. Now
with regard to your question of full
crop, do not know what that is
There is, as | stated in the "Gazette'
few da US ago, a peach district near
Crisf-ld, the South End, and the canal
on St Georges, the upper end, about l2o
miles, and experience has proven that
abou. every II miles make difference
of one day in ripening, therefore there
are ten days difference: and as stated
it is rather an unlikely thing to I'M ule
or kill all the peaches, tor while it has
done as this year caught the extreme
northern end of the peach district IN
Gloom, and being colder by some de-
grees, killed the crop or nearly so, but
as you 90 south from Mount Pleasant,
there are more and more peaches; and
fom Canter berry to Seaford or Laurel,
GOOD crop, and as W, have had splen
did warm weather for the last few days
to make sap flow, and if it continues
for eight or ten days there will be a
good peach crop in the State, that vii!
yield far more money to Delaware and
Maryland growers than in 1873. Their
3 remarkable thing occurred. There
was full crop on the whole 12O miles
with the diffe rent variations of climate
1t may never happen again. Then agair
business was oppressed in 1875, 50 oul
best customers The workingmen had ne
money to buy with but now they have
work and money.
Yours Respectfully, SAMUEL TOWNSEND.
TOWNSEND, June End, 70.
LETTER FROM WILLOW GROVE.