Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1904-03-05
HOpTICI II R,
An Illinois Peach Orchard.
Farmers Review

L /
I will give the readers of the Farm
erS' Review a sketch of our peach
orchard of thirteen acres. Not that
peaches pay very largely except to
improve our health by keeping us
out of doors. But when we do get
a crop, oh, my, how we do enjoy
them! How we do long to fill up our
jars, cans and crooks with the lus-
cious fruit, to be used in the years
to come. Crawford peaches do not do
we'll with us, as they are shy bearers.
However. the trees generally bear a
few each year. Some of them are
large and fine, but the rest are medi-
um to small and are one-sided. The
Elberta is also a shy bearer here, but
forty miles away is said to bear well.
The tree seems more hardy than any
other kind, and the fruit needs no
thinning. The fruit, when fully de-
veloped, is beautiful, being long and
yellow. But ours were of different
yellow than those shipped from the
south, and we purchased our stock
from three different nurserymen,
showing that climate makes the diff
ference in color. Possibly il we had
got our stock from the same locality
in the south where light colored FL
bertas are being grown, the trees
would bear light and bright-colored
yellow peaches here. Our Triumph
peaches did well and the people that
bought them said they were good
enough for them, but the trees have
fruited for only two years. see that
some people say they do no. do
e ;u-ny well every year, but are some
times very disappointing. The years
that our trees bore, the fruit was very
large and fine and bright reddish
yellow in color. The young trees
were just as full as they need be and
the fruit had to be thinned. They do
not rot easily after being picked.
They may also be left hanging on the
trees for several days after being
ripe and still will hold their texture.
When fully ripe people like them very
much for canning, as they do not ad-
here to the pit.
Alexander peaches do well with us,
but they rot easily and must be
picked as soon as ripe. AS they are
clings, they are not SO good to
can as are the freestones, though the
clings are ahead of almost any other
kind, as to quality. In canning, the
Alexanders seem to lose some of
their richness in cooking. But they
are very rich and choice and are best
eaten out of hand. When ripe we
think they are even ahead of the
beautiful Greensboro, which ripens at
about the same time. The latter will
delight anyone that is an enthusiast
over peaches. But the birds like the
Greensboro peaches so much that
they have to be picked as soon as
ripe. or the birds will mutilate them.
After a bird has picked peach, the
bees get at it and make a large hole
in a short time.
The Champion is our ideal for
white peach, as it is very rich and
luscious. 1t is perhaps not so at
tractive to the eye as some. because
not so highly colored. But our Cham
pion peaches are not all alike. On
some of the trees the peaches will all
be large, with red cheeks, while on
other trees the peaches are only of
medium size. On the old trees the
Champion peaches are the smallest
of all. Our Champion trees come from
different nurserymen, which, 1 think,
is the cause of their not being alike.
Budding from the best is what we are
now doing, since our first orchard
was destroyed We think every
orchardist should learn how to bud
his own trees, if he wants the best.
We mark our best while they are in
fruiting, and when budding time
comes. take our buds from them.
The Champion is a very fine peach
for canning. The juice is very thick
and rich, and the peach does not fall
to pieces as much as some others.
The Crosby is a fine peach when han
died Alright, but it needs much thin
ming or it will be sr all. But it bears
when any other tree bears, and on
that account is tree that should be
largely planted. The Crosbys are not
all alike and differ very much in the
quality of their fruit. Birds never
work on Crosby peaches because
they are so woolly. and also because
the fruit is late, ripening about the
middle of September.
As peaches often fail, we should
try to grow only the ones that gen.
orally succeed in our locality, and
this takes a good many years to find
out In our first orchard only about
one-half of the 1,600 trees bore enough
to pay Some of the peaches were
little and scattering; others were
large but few on q tree. Others
ripened up all at once and could
hardly be gotten from the tree be-
fore half rotten; ot-ers fell from the
tree almost as soon as ripe. These
would usually rot SO quickly that
they could hardly be marketed before
being rotten, especially In rainy
time.
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