Excerpt from Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Horticultural Society of Michigan, 1915 The past history of the peach business in this state as well as in most of the other peach growing sections in other states, proves that it wonld be unsafe for any individual to class himself as an expert in peach production. Although it seems to be possible to overcome all of the diseases and insects to which the peach is susceptible, yet the unexpected in temperature that is liable to bring havoc to the best of locations suggests such a risk connected with the business that it would cause the so-called expert to disown any previous knowledge that he might have claimed. Peach growing has proven very profitable to many people, yet the number of tliose who have realized a profit is very insignificant when compared with the total number who have at various times engaged in the profession. Points of similarity caused a well known peach grower and authority to liken the headlong rush of people, in any certain locality, into the endeavor to produce peaches, to the similar rushes that have been made at various periods when there has been a new discovery of gold. Humanity seems to be as thoughtless in one case as the other and the results are very similar. Yet there are some especial principles which rightly followed will accomplish all that human endeavor is able toward making the business profitable over a long period of time. Probably the point of greatest importance and surely the one to be considered first is the location of the orchard. This includes the lay of the land, the type of soil, the general adaptability of the land for peaches and the distance from market. The distance from market does not require to be considered so seriously in this state as in some other sections of the country as markets are very near. However, the distance from shipping point is to be considered although this becomes of small importance if a particular site meets all of the other requirements of a good location. The direction of slope is not so important as to make sure that there is some slope. Air drainage is a prime essential to success. Peaches seem to be grown successfully upon many types of soil but I personally prefer a sandy loam that is rich in organic material. Too much of the land which men are endeavoring to utilize for peaches at the present time is deficient in humus. The first orchard may have been (juite profitable upon a particular site but as cover crops were neglected the humus has been exhausted. Although a certain site may meet all of the requirements still it is uncertain until it is tested. I know of one parcel of land in particular that has been selected by experts as an ideal location for peaches yet as a matter of fact an orchard was planted here at one time and proved to be very unprofitable. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.