THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



13 



at all close, if the two species had had a common origin even though in 

 rather remote times, if they were nearly enough related readily to hybridize 

 or be hybridized, it would be expected that now and then, as in the case 

 of a nectarine, the peach would produce an almond or the almond a peach. 



Geographical botany also opposes Knight's hypothesis, as De Can- 

 dolle' points out, for, as he plainly shows, the almond had its origin in 

 western Asia, it being found truly wild in many parts of south-western 

 Asia and having been cultivated many centuries before the peach was 

 known in these regions. On the other hand, the almond was not known 

 in China before the Christian era whereas the peach had been cultivated 

 tliere at least 2000 years anterior to the introduction of the almond. With 

 such widely separated habitats, the two fruits can hardly be considered as 

 parent and offspring. 



We cannot close our eyes to the patent relationships of the peach and 

 the almond. That the two constitute but one species, as we now consider 

 species, or that they bear the close relationship of the peach and the 

 nectarine, probably no one now in high authority will concede. But for 

 the weight of the names we have used, and the fact that the theory still 

 finds supporters. Knight's hypothesis, the outcropping of a speculative 

 mind in a speculative age, might have been overlooked or dismissed with 

 a word. 



THE PEACH IN ASIA 



We must have more knowledge of the peach in Asia than the bare 

 fact that it originated somewhere in the vast empire of China. We want, 

 first, to know what the characters of the prototypal peach were. If we 

 can get some idea of the original wild peach of China we shall know some- 

 thing of how this fruit has been improved by man and, perhaps, some- 

 thing of its future potentialities. Second, though not essential to this 

 study, it will be profitable to peach-growers to inquire whether there are 

 types of peaches still remaining in China that might be improved under 

 western cultivation. If so, we want them, since our cultivated peaches 

 are not free from faults, some of which we might get rid of by the inter- 

 jection of new blood. It is now about seventy years since Robert Fortune, 

 the adventurous English plant-collector, began dipping into the horti- 

 cultural treasures of China; and recent explorations make plain that there 

 are still riches in plants in that country — the fact that they can now be 

 brought through the " open door," instead of as spoils to be smuggled 



' De CandoUe, Alphonse Or. Cull. Plants 229. 1885. 



