231 AMVCDALUS PERSICA. 



four t'cit the first season. Larue orchards have thus heeii fonneil of liJly to ont; 

 hmuhed acres at a comparatively small exjieiisc. The knife is seldom apfilicd 

 to standard trees, except in some instances where they have been headed down 

 once when yonui:. it having Ix'en fonnd, tlial pruned trees, heavily laden with 

 ice or fruit, are liable t(t be broki-n down; but when sullered to grow in a natural 

 manner, tlie branches become mtdti|)lied, llexible, and tough: and often arc so 

 loa<led with fruit, that its weight prostrates them to the ground uidiurt. None 

 break that are not primed, and most of them recover their usu:il ])osition when 

 the fruit is detached. 'I'lie croj)s are certain, abundant, and well-llavoured : and 

 the fruit is little inferior to that grown on grafted or pruned trees; although it 

 varies much, in size, on the same tree. In three years after jjlanting, the orchards 

 come to bearing: and the trees have been known to endure litty years. All ani- 

 mals arc excluded, except swine, which are sometimes sullered to feed and root, 

 at pleasure, at certain periods of the year, and doubtless, arc instrumental in 

 destroying insects and vermin, and in ameliorating the soil by turning and loos- 

 ening the surface. The trees are so easily propagated and renewed, that the 

 cutting down of a peach-orchard for a course of tillage, on ground improved by 

 this means, is of no uncommon occurrence. To insure a constant supply of thiis 

 fruit, it is deemed important that a new plantation sliould be in progress, while 

 that in profit is bearing and declining, and that it should be located at a distance 

 from it, in order to be out of the reach of infection. 



The following mode of propagating the peach, may be relied on as the suc- 

 cessful result of many years' experience. Although it is attended with some 

 labour, and requires considerable attention, let it be remembered " that the price 

 of good fruit was fixed by the Deity himself, when he created man, and placed 

 him in the garden of Eden ;" for, even at that early period, when the soil existed 

 in its virgin purity, it was the condition that he should 



" Dres3 the garden, and keep it," 



and we may venture to say, that since that time, the price has never been abated. 



MANAGEMENT DURING THE FIRST YEAR. 



The peach-stones, soon after they are extricated from the pulp, should be covered 

 with earth to the depth of four inches, and remain in that condition till they are 

 required for sowing, the following spring. Towards the end of March, or as 

 soon as the ground is deprived of frost, let them be sown in good garden mould, 

 two inches deep, and if possible, in the place where the trees are intended to stand. 

 As soon as the young plants have risen high enough to throw out branches, 

 which will usually take place by the first of July, the ground should be scraped 

 over with a hoe, in order to destroy the weeds, and the side-shoots must be cut 

 off near the main stem, care being observed not to injure the leaves which stand 

 at the base of each shoot ; for, on the preservation of these leaves, depend the 

 health and vigorous growth of the young trees. On August 1st, or as soon as 

 shoots of choice varieties, with good eyes of the current year, can be obtained, 

 the trees should be budded or inoculated, within one inch, or even below the 

 surface of the ground. The buds may be known to be ready for insertion, by 

 the shield, or portion of the bark to which they are attached, easily parting Vvith 

 the wood. Let the shoots, from which the buds are to be procured for inocula- 

 tion, be taken only from the outside branches of healthy and fruitful trees. The 

 buds usually preferred, are those on the middle of young shoots, as they are not 

 so liable to run to wood as those at the extremity, nor so apt to lie dormant as 

 those at the lower end. Let the buds be collected in a cloudy day, or at an early 

 or late hour of a fair one. When they are to be transported at a distance, they 



