icut, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and, of
late years, Georgia, peaches flourish and produce enormous crops. As
a general rule, the nearer the orchard is to large bodies of water,
the more likely one is to get a crop, as the temperature of the
water prevents a too early budding out in the spring and delays
killing autumn frosts.
Generally speaking, a sandy, porous soil is best for peaches, but
they may be raised on clay lands if provided with plenty of humus.
Another fruit which is profitable in districts suited to its growth
is the grape. Bulletin No. 153, Cornell Experiment Station, says:
"Grapes are a dessert fruit. They are not used to a large extent in
the kitchen (though they might be), so there are few incidental or
secondary products; that is, they are not dried, canned, made into
jellies, and the like, to any extent, that is, in the United States.
The grape is peculiarly a sectional product. Central New York has a
large area devoted to it. In northern Ohio, a strip along Lake Erie,
and some of its islands, are devoted almost exclusively to grape
vineyards. In districts where grapes are intensively grown, a great
part of the crop is used for wine, and American wine is extensively
sold m our home markets, although it frequently has foreign labels.
Any one purchasing a farm should plant some grapevines for home use.
Grape juice is easily made and kept and is a pleasing beverage.
Grape jelly is excellent and could be readily marketed in any nearby
town, since there is very little, comparatively, on sale. A grape
arbor gives shade, needs little care, and can be planted near the
house where it will not interfere with the crops. For you cannot
cultivate all of your land; some grassy space must be left around
the house if only for drying clothes. But if ground is scarce, vines
or lima beans can be trained up the back porch or up the sunny side
of the house; or a few climbing nasturtiums will give decorations
without care, while the young leaves make a good salad.
Of home orchard fruits, the plum, pear, and quince are all
profitable specialties, especially for intensive acre raising. In
general, the same remark may be made of them as of the other fruits,
that they need careful selection of land to get the best results.
The cherry has recently come to be recognized as a good commercial
specialty. Mr. George T. Powell, in _The American Agriculturist,_
says: "The crop is a precarious one to marke
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