Dennis, that is the classic book on peaches and is how I learned much that I know. I even have an original copy, which I bought before it had been scanned and put on the Internet. One of my goals was to find and grow as many of the peaches rated "very good" or better in that book and I think I now have every one that is known to still exist, except Rochester (it is very similar to one of the Crawfords). So far my very favorite peach is the old variety Foster which was highly praised in that book.

Scott

Dennis and Scott: If you enjoy reading old peach literature, try the link below. There is an extensive list of varieties and many, many paragraphs on farmers experiences growing many varieties. The book was published in 1899 by the KS State Horticultural Society. I started by reading the scanned book on-line (the link below) and liked it enough to find a copy and acquire it.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Peach. The KS Peach

Well I am from New York...
Peaches trees I have listed in Peaches of New York are;
Blood[Indian] Cling- dark red flesh w/ white streaks, cool
JH Hale - extra large mid season with great peachy flavor
Belle-drops when ripe, 'ok' flavor for my palate
Elberta-ripens with JH Hale but just a 'good' peach
I am also growing a couple new ones like Scarlet Pearl, an excellent white.
Flat Wonderful, a peento type.
Halehaven is a rich and firm late peach, JH Hale x Redhaven, Antique x thoroughbred
I find the Redhaven is most reliable with great peach flavor.
Still I try to get peach trees that ripen at different times and that has worked well.

Funny, my Elberta is better than the JH Hale I have here. I think I'm not alone in this appraisal.

Scott and I have often gone back and forth about peaches on this forum- specifically about the virtue of some of the older varieties. A lot of the ones he likes are whites and I'm just not a white peach lover- it's a matter of individual taste. Of course it is also a matter of site.

I've come to the conclusion that my annual application of mellowed stable waste as a mulch is no longer a good idea. I believe that the vigor of my peaches is a detriment to their over all quality. This is an issue that may be caused in combination with 3 straight wet seasons. Too much water and too rich soil does not make optimum conditions for high brix peaches. Getting just the right amount of vigor is a difficult balancing act when you can't control water.

In the orchards I manage there is quite a range in the quality of any given variety depending on the soil. Sandy soil seems to intensify the sugar.

Another older variety I like is Loring and one of its sports- Johnboy. I find Johnboy to be richer and more luscious that Redhaven and only about a week later. These also have very beautiful flowers.

Harvestman, folks young and old like the JH Hale better than Elberta over here. The Hale and Elberta ripen around the same time. I think it is important to compare peaches that ripen at the same time. What does it matter if Redhaven is a little better than O'Henry that ripens 50 days after. Has anyone tested or thought peaches better off a tree with equal early mid and late season varieties grafted.
I grow seven peach trees on a 24" high raised bed. Lots and lots of piled rich soil and added mulch & wood chips. Pick up one hand full of chips and the soil is totally alive with worms. The black mulch gets warm and the soil is loosened and aerated and fertilized by the worms. Sort of like a spa for trees. Raised bed trees grow faster and are more productive than peach trees I grow in rows in yard soil with top mulch.
Upstate we top dress fruit trees with mellowed stable waste, but it is not nearly as biodynamic as the mulched raised bed.

Ace, mellowed stable waste- wood chips, I use them both, whatever's handy and preferably loaded in my truck for free (I use about well over 50 yards a year). Once it's humus you'd have to do major chemistry to tell the difference. I compare fruit every day from different sites (some on high mounds) but I'm still not sure of what makes what happen. I know mulch helps them establish but at some point a soil can become too rich. I like growing most anything raised, but on sites with excellent drainage, why bother?

I know worms like stable waste even more than wood chips. I believe that lots of black soil is not necessarily the key to highest quality fruit- just biggest yealds of corn.

I find it hard to believe what you say about people around you preferring JHH to Elberta, unless they're under your influence. Around here people don't know Red Haven from White Lady. I only infer the general preference for Elberta from reading on sites like this. Both have been offered by home orchard catalogues for over a century and Elberta won the popularity contest hands down. Could be JHH lack of self-fruiting, of course.

My JHH is growing right next to my Elberta and the Elberta is much more useful to me. It ripens somewhat later and the firm fruit holds up in the fridge so it extends my season at least 2 weeks beyond JHH. It seems peachier and more luscious to me. But opinions will vary.

I think she's performing downtown this week.

You said, "Once it's humus you'd have to do major chemistry to tell the difference."

Once chips and manure is humus it is inert, a soil conditioner. There is no energy left. Worms thrive on the bacteria and such things that are breaking down the wood chips. My raised beds fed with wood chips are infested with worms. The soil is worm casings to about a foot down and criss crossed with fine feeder roots.

I think I may have the Gleason Elberta strain because I am sure mine ripens at the same time as my J H Hale. You said your Elberta ripens a little later than J H Hale.

Michael mentioned "The KS Peach". I know it's been discussed on the forum before, but I'm just now trying to finish the book.

One interesting observation is that in part of the book, they interview lots of different KS peach farmers asking about cultural practices and varieties. Farmer after farmer mentions that seedling varieties generally have poor fruit compared to grafted trees. In contradistinction, I've heard many folks say that peaches come fairly true from seed. But apparently that's not true, according to the peach farmers growing both cultivated varieties along side seedlings.

The farmers also complain of peaches being frequently sunburnt. This was a surprise to me as well. I've not heard modern day commercial growers complain about sun-scald in this area. Anyone else have problems with peach sun-scald?

It was interesting most of the farmers recommended Elberta. Not many grew Hale. I'd always been afraid of trying Elberta because of it's supposedly high susc. to bac. spot. Might go ahead and give it a try.

Ace, your being in Long Island suggests to me that your base soil is almost pure sand. From my experience what works for you will not match the needs of growers with heavier and richer native soils.

I don't know how much humus it takes to be too much of a good thing in various soil types but, as you may know, fruit growing requires mastering the right balance of vegetative vigor. It's something I'm still working on and probably will be until my bones are feeding my orchard.

The key word is moderation and achieving it requires a delicate balance between soil type, nutrient input and water. My problem is that my standards seem to go up faster than my mastery.

I'm comparing fruit at a 100 different sites, and although I manage them all, I want the fruit from my own orchard to be the best. Actually I'd like them all to make the same high standard, but failing that, at least the orchard that gets my most constant attention (my own) should have the superior fruit.

In the last 2 or 3 very moist seasons I found somewhat better quality in orchards with soil less rich than mine. I have come to believe that sandy soil is the easiest to get the highest quality fruit in.

Harvest, my neighborhood is native Oak and Pine to seventy feet. Below the forest built top soil layer there is a loamy clay. Suffolk county where I live produces the most agriculture revenue in NY State. Some deeper soils and poor sandy soils exist on LI also.

For my raised peach bed I used 40 yards of delivered soil and ten yards of rich top soil. About ten yards of mulch. Less than a year later there were weeds. So I added 5 inches more of mulch then more mulch because it got eaten fast. Mulch costs $12 a yard delivered. I get wood chips delivered for free. The bed is mostly granulated black worm castings and the peaches thrive much better than in the back yard soil.

I have read that peaches do well in sandy soil too. Maybe fast growing peaches thrive in any loose soil.

Ace, how long ago did you establish your orchard there?

I moved in to my home and raised the beds in 2005. In upstate Delaware county we planted many fruit trees about 1994. My grandparents had a farm here on LI.

Hi

Hi Scottfsmith. Thank you of your message, looks like you saw mine message. Sorry i didn't know you already have this book, well now you can have backup copy of it if you lost it someday or it is burned in fire. Also other saw it also. Good to see it is good book in your opinion.

Hi Theaceofspades thank you too about your peach variety list. You said Redhaven is most reliable with great peach flavor. What is your determination about reliable regarding Redhaven peach variety? What you meant by that exactly i meant. I think you mean flower buds are hardy. Or do you mean peach fruits don't drop off the tree when unripe, or something else? Good to hear Redhaven has great flavor, i have read something similar earlier.

Hi Harvestman. Just a small comment here. You talked about high brix peaches, i think you mean sugar content here. I think brix orginally meant to grapes, measuring sugar level of grapes. I think high sugar level is get when there is sunny and warm weather (Not sure the last thing at this moment altough.). You said you have 3 straight wet season. I think you meant growing season by saying season. This sounds like you have had rainy weather there, many times when there is a rain, temperature doesn't rise as high as sunny weather (Altought i know southeastern U.S.A. rain little time but hard and then it might be sunny rest of the day). So if this idea is applied also to peaches, results might be less sweet peaches. I think you might be right that you can't control rain (Maybe some control can be done, but not all control). Harvestman remember, that fruit trees are mention to be many years plants, so fruit quality may change year to year.

Hi Theaceofspades you said i think it is important compare peaches that ripen at the same time. Good point, thank you.

Ace, I don't know if you grew peaches in Deleware County, but if you didn't you'll need a few more seasons to begin to evaluate your methods. Young trees are easier to crop with highest quality fruit. Once the trees have realized the size you want to keep them and the roots have a surplus of everything they need you just might regret the richness of you soil.