272 On the Cultivation and 



tion exists. It is therefore the chief object of the modern po- 

 mologist, to obtain from seeds of the best wildings new varieties 

 wherewith to form new and profitable orchards ; and which 

 may be expected to continue in health and fertility, as the old 

 sorts have done, for the next century. The preservation of 

 this useful fruit is now brought to great perfection, by keeping 

 them in jars secured from the action of the air : but there is 

 one method of preserving them for culinary purposes, which, 

 as it is not practised in this country, may be noticed here. 

 Any good baking sort, which is liable to rot, if peeled and cut 

 into slices about the thickness of one-sixth of an inch, and 

 dried in the sun, or in a slow oven, till sufficiently desiccated, 

 may be aftenvards kept in boxes in a dry place, for a con- 

 siderable time ; and only require to be soaked in water for an 

 hour or two, before using. 



The foregoing are the fruits found wild in our climate ; the 

 difference in their aboriginal and cultivated state has been 

 pointed out ; we shall now give short descriptions of foreign 

 fruits, which have been partly naturalised, the management of 

 which forms so considerable a share of the gardener's art and 

 attention. 



Of the Apricot. — It is supposed that this fruit is a native of 

 Africa : from thence it appears to have come through Persia 

 and Greece to us, with the name *'a praecox," significant of 

 its earliness. It is one of our wall-fruits ; though, in favour- 

 able situations, it will ripen its produce, either planted as a 

 standard, or trained as an espalier. There are several varieties 

 which have been obtained by means similar to those already 

 mentioned ; and there is room for further exertion in endea- 

 vouring to improve the size of the fruit, or any other desirable 

 quality. 



Of the Peach. — ^This delicate and excellent fruit is a strik- 

 ing instance of what judicious cultivation may produce. The 

 common almond has always been considered the original stock 

 of this monument of skill and assiduity. The estimation in 

 which it is held, and the care and expense incurred in its cul- 

 tivation both in forcing-houses and in the open air, is proof of 

 its superiority : and no fruit repays the labour of the attend- 

 ant, or expense of the owner, more bountifully than this. 



