The peaches of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

Ninth.—What degree of cold will kill peach-buds? Much depends upon the condition of the buds. Fifteen degrees below zero seems to be the limit that peach-buds can stand even when all conditions are favorable. The chief factors influencing tenderness of buds are maturity of buds, variety, and the time at which buds finish their resting period.

Tenth.—Small-growing varieties with compact heads are hardier than the free-growing sorts with large heads. The following varieties are named as compact in growth and hence hardier than the average: Chili, Crosby, Gold Drop, Barnard, Kalamazoo, Triumph, Wager and Fitzgerald.

Eleventh.—In New York the varieties Crosby, Chili, Stevens, Gold Drop and Elberta are named as most hardy in wood. As most tender in wood Early Crawford, Late Crawford, Chairs, St. John and Niagara are named. Crosby, Chili, Triumph, Gold Drop, Stevens and Kalamazoo are most hardy in bud. Early Crawford, Late Crawford, Chairs, Reeves and Elberta are most tender in bud.

The average date at which the last killing frost occurs in the spring also determines the limit in latitude or altitude at which the peach can be grown. Even in the favored peach-regions of New York, records bring out the fact that killing frosts must be expected occasionally to destroy the peach-crop and there are few years indeed in which frost does not take heavy toll in the State as a whole. In the twenty-five year period beginning with 1881 and ending with 1905, the peach-crop was destroyed or seriously injured over a large part of New York in thirteen seasons.[256] Little or nothing is done in New York to protect the peach from frosts. Truth is, not much can be done. Whitewashing trees delays blooming time and in some seasons might prevent injury from late frosts but it is too uncertain and too costly to be worth putting in practice. Wind-breaks as often favor the frost as the tree. Smudging is too expensive for the extensive system of peach-orcharding practiced in the East. Failure due to frost may be expected, then, when the commonly recognized precautions in selecting frost-proof sites are not recognized.

The limits of peach-culture in New York are also determined by early fall frosts and by the length of the growing season, though both are less important than the winter-climate and late frosts in the spring. The peach-grower must be able to synchronize three of these phases of climate, spring frosts, fall frosts and length of summer season, with the blooming and ripening of peaches,—to do which he must have weather data and the dates of blooming and ripening of varieties of peaches. The necessary data as to the average dates of spring and fall frosts and the length of the growing season can be obtained from the nearest local weather bureau and in the accompanying table the blooming and ripening seasons of 181 varieties of peaches grown at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station are given for the years 1910 to 1914. Blooming and ripening dates vary in the several peach-regions in the State so that to make use of the data from this Station consideration must be given to the latitude, altitude and local environment of the peach-orchard.

The latitude of the Smith Astronomical Observatory, a quarter of a mile from the Station orchards, is 42° 52' 46.2"; the altitude of the orchards is from five hundred to five hundred and twenty-five feet above the sea level. The soil is a loamy but rather cold clay; the orchards lie about a mile west of Seneca Lake, a body of water forty miles in length and from one to three and one-half miles in width and more than six hundred feet deep. The lake has frozen over but a few times since the region was settled, over a hundred years ago, and has a very beneficial influence on the adjacent country in lessening the cold of winter and the heat of summer and in preventing early blooming.

The blooming period is that of full bloom. The data were taken from trees grown under normal conditions as to pruning, distance apart, and as to all other factors which might influence the blooming period. There is a variation of several days between the time of full bloom of the different varieties of peaches. These differences can be utilized in selecting sorts to avoid injury from frost.

Blooming Periods and Season of Ripening of Peach-Varieties
	Blooming period					Season of ripening
	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late
Abundance		*						*
Admiral Dewey			*				*
Ailsworth			*						*
Albright Cling			*					*
Alexander		*				*
Alton		*						*
Amelia			*					*
Ameliaberta				*					*
Arkansas			*				*
Arp			*				*
Athens			*						*
Augbert			*						*
Banner				*					*
Barber			*					*
Beatrice			*				*
Belle		*						*
Blooming Periods and Season of Ripening of Peach-Varieties—Continued
	Blooming period					Season of ripening
	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late
Berenice			*					*
Bilyeu		*								*
Bishop			*					*
Blood Cling			*							*
Blood Leaf			*							*
Bokhara			*					*
Bonanza			*							*
Brandywine			*						*
Bray Rareripe			*							*
Brigdon			*					*
Briggs			*				*
Burke			*					*
Butler Late		*							*
Buttram			*						*
Canada			*			*
Capps			*					*
Captain Ede					*			*
Carman			*				*
Champion			*					*
Chairs				*				*
Chili			*						*
Chinese Cling			*						*
Chinese Free		*						*
Christiana			*						*
Clarissa			*						*
Clifton Park		*					*
Conkling				*				*
Connecticut			*					*
Connet			*				*
Coolidge			*					*
Crosby			*						*
Crothers		*							*
Davidson		*					*
Delaware			*					*
Denton		*						*
Dr. Burton			*					*
Dulce				*						*
Early Charlotte			*					*
Early Crawford			*					*
Early Michigan		*						*
Early York					*			*
Edgemont			*					*
Elberta			*					*
Emma			*					*
Engle			*					*
Eureka		*						*
Family Favorite		*						*
Fitzgerald			*					*
Ford Late		*							*
Blooming Periods and Season of Ripening of Peach-Varieties—Continued
	Blooming period					Season of ripening
	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late
Foster			*					*
Fox				*					*
Frances				*					*
Frederica			*						*
Geary			*							*
General Lee			*					*
George IV			*					*
Gold Drop		*							*
Gold Dust			*						*
Gold Mine			*						*
Gordon				*						*
Governor Garland			*					*
Governor Hogg			*				*
Greensboro		*					*
Guinn			*					*
Hale Early			*				*
Heath Cling			*							*
Heath Free			*						*
Hiley			*					*
Honest John			*					*
Horton River		*						*
Hynds Yellow			*					*
Hynes			*				*
Illinois			*					*
Ingold				*				*
Iron Mountain				*						*
Jackson				*				*
Jennie Worthen			*					*
Jennings			*					*
Kalamazoo			*						*
Klondike			*						*
Lamont			*						*
Large York			*					*
Late Crawford			*						*
Late Elberta			*					*
Late Rareripe			*						*
Levy			*							*
Lodge		*						*
Lola		*						*
Lord Palmerston		*							*
Lorentz			*							*
McCollister			*					*
McKay Late			*							*
Mamie Ross		*						*
Markham			*					*
Mathews			*						*
May Lee			*				*
Maule Early			*				*
Millhiser			*							*
Blooming Periods and Season of Ripening of Peach-Varieties—Continued
	Blooming period					Season of ripening
	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late
Miner Wonder			*						*
Moore Favorite				*					*
Morris White			*						*
Mountain Rose			*					*
Munson Free			*						*
Niagra			*					*
Northboro		*						*
Oldmixon Cling			*						*
Oldmixon Free			*						*
Opulent			*					*
Oriole			*						*
Orleans				*				*
Parsons Early			*					*
Pearce Yellow			*					*
Pearson	*							*
Perfection			*						*
Philip Horton					*					*
Picquet			*							*
Potter				*				*
Prolific		*						*
Ray			*					*
Red Bird			*				*
Red Bird Cling			*				*
Red Cheek Melocoton			*					*
Reeves				*				*
Rivers		*					*
Rudings Late			*					*
Russell		*						*
St. John			*				*
Salwey			*							*
Shumaker		*				*
Shipley Late			*						*
Simmons					*					*
Slappey					*				*
Smock			*							*
Sneed			*			*
Steadly				*						*
Strout		*				*
Stump			*						*
Summer Snow			*						*
Surpasse			*					*
Surprise			*					*
Susquehanna			*					*
Switzerland			*						*
Thurber			*					*
Tiebout			*						*
Tilloston				*				*
Triumph		*					*
Troth			*							*
Blooming Periods and Season of Ripening of Peach-Varieties—Continued
	Blooming period					Season of ripening
	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late	Very early	Early	Mid- season	Late	Very late
Victor		*				*
Waddell			*					*
Wager			*					*
Walker			*						*
Ward			*						*
Waterloo			*			*
Weaver			*							*
Wheatland				*				*
Wilkins			*						*
Willard			*					*
Willett			*						*
Williams			*							*
Wonderful				*						*
Worlds Fair				*		*
Worrell				*					*
Yellow Rareripe			*					*
Yellow Swan				*			*

The peach seldom suffers from hot weather in New York. The fruit is sometimes injured in the full blaze of the sun but the foliage usually furnishes ample protection against such injury. On the other hand, for a finely finished product the peach must have an unclouded sun and ample air, these conditions giving high color and full flavor.

The peach requires less moisture than most other fruits—its original home was on the desert's edge in Asia. In New York the rainfall is usually quite sufficient in all peach-regions for this crop, the exception being, possibly, in the southern part of the Central Lakes region, where, in the lands adapted to the peach, the soil is often thin and drought, season after season, lays heavily on the land. The peach in New York more often suffers from too much rain than too little. Cold, wet weather in blooming time is the fruit-grower's vernal bane in this State and rain not infrequently prevents a set of peaches even in localities where the spring rainfall is light. Monthly and seasonal "means" of precipitation, especially of the month of May, are of considerable importance in determining the desirability of a locality for peaches.