PEACH TREES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 146, 5 June 1936, Page 13

PEACH TREES

June and July are the best months for planting peach trees. The origin of the garden peaches is now generally admitted to be Chinese, ft js a form □1 Prunus (Amygdalus) peisca having a downy skin. They have been cultivated from a remote period. According to De Candolie the peach spreads easily in the countries in which it is cultivated, so that it is hard to say whether a given tree is of natural origin. But it certainly was first cultivated in China—it was recorded there 2,000 years before its introduction into the Gibeo-Komau world.

The peach flowers at a comparatively cool period, the blossoms may be destroyed by too much heat but not by cold, (unless actually frozen of course) so our New Zealand climate should be ideal for the cultivation of the peach family. When the fruit is well set and about the size of a shilling, the trees should have a top-dressing of manure. WeS rotted stable manure mulched round the trees and watered in is very beneficial. Artificial manures may be used and scattered round the tree and forked in, a mixture of bonedust, super, and blood and bone is often used, but if much farmyard or nitrogen manures are used, potash should be applied or else a strong leaf-growth takes place and will be to the disadvantage of the fruit.