September 17, 1868. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



201 



PEACH CULTIVATION.— No. ■^. 



N cold situations, but not unsnitaMo foi- the 

 ',; growth of the Poach on wallc, it may bo de- 

 sirable to plant the hardiest kinds ; for in 

 the case of the Peach, as witli every other 

 kind of fruit, there are degrees of hardiness. 

 The hardiest Peaches seem to mo to bo the 

 following — viz.. Mountaineer, tho fruit of 

 ■which is sometimes partly smootli, flesh 

 melting, ripe about the beginning of Septem- 

 ber ; Violette llative, large and good, ripe 

 in September, the hardiest of all Peaches, and whicli, 

 having a good constitution, succeeds where others do not ; 

 Early York ; Malta; Ban-ington, and Chancellor. 



From the list of twelve varieties I have left out Early 

 Grosse Mignonne, finding lilarly York much larger and 

 liner ; indeed it is fully as large and line as the September 

 Peaches, and cannot be too highly praised, as it is of a 

 splendid colour, lirm, but melting and juicy. If the Sul- 

 hampstead supersede, as I believe it will, the Noblesse for 

 walls, the Dymond, a large, very fine, and good-flavoured 

 sort may be added to the first twelve in place of the No- 

 blesse. Dymond is ripe from the middle to the end of 

 August. The old Red Magdalen, or Madeleine do Conrson, 

 owing to its being tender, I have omitted. It is, however, 

 one of the best-flavoured Peaches, medium-sized, and hand- 

 some. I have seen it die off against a wall where other 

 varieties succeeded, and it appears to be of the same type 

 as the Royal George, Royal Charlotte, and, I think, Early 

 York : all being subject to mildew, and occasionally pro- 

 ducing smooth-skinned fruit, though in general very downy. 

 All are highly coloured, and roundish or globular, flattened 

 at the base. 



The NfxTARiNE requires the same cultivation as the 

 Peach. The best Nectarines for walls are : — 



Rivera's Orange, large, melting ; the flowers are splendid, well worth 

 p'owing for decorative purposes. It ripens a few days earlier than 

 Pitmaston Orange, its parent, and is hardier, and a great bearer. 



Elmge, medium-sized, juicy, and of good flavour. End of August 

 and beginning of September. It is an abundant bearer. 



Violette Iiritive, medium-sized, melting, juicy, and excellent. End 

 of August and beginning of September. 



Hardwicke, large, juicy, and rich-flavonred. End of August and 

 beginning of September. 



Pitmaston Orange, large and excellent. September. 



Balgowan, large, melting, and iiue-flavonrcd. September. 



All these are of good constitution, and hardy. Three of 

 the best varieties are Rivers's Orange, Violette Hative, 

 and Hardwicke. For one variety I would select Violette 

 Hative. 



Hunt's Tawny is evidently of bad constitution, being very subject to 

 aphis and mildew, otherwise it is early, but mealy, and not rich in 

 flavour. 



New White is large and good, bnt does not succeed against a wall, 

 except in warm situations. 



Peterborough, or Vermash, is the only Nectarine ripening in October, 

 Jbnt that is its only recommendation. 



Early Newington is large, and of excellent flavour. It is a cling- 

 fiiono, ripens in September, and should be left on the tree until it is 

 slightly shrivelled. It is then very rich. 



Soil. — There is a prevailing opinion that strong soils 

 Ne. BSO.-VoL. XV., New Sebieb. 



are the best for the Peach. This, I am convinced, is a 

 mistake. Heavy clay soils are as unfavourable as poor 

 sandy soils, if not more so. The latter can be improved by 

 the addition of cool manure and adhesive compost, so that 

 tho liability of tho tree to curl and aphis in spring, and 

 to red spider in summer, may to a great extent be avoided ; 

 but heavy clay soils have such a tendency to cause late 

 growth, and to encourage the production of shoots which do 

 not become thoroughly ripened, that a Peach tree ought 

 not to be planted in them for out- door cultivation. The 

 best soil for the Peach against a wall is a calcareous sandy 

 rather than heavy loam, and yellow rather than black. 

 All soils, however, are not of that description, neither 

 are subsoils the same. The latter must first engage our 

 attention. 



If the subsoil is wet the ground must be well and 



; efliciently drained, so as to carry off all water that would 

 become stagnant in the soil, otherwise the trees will make 

 a poor growth in spring from the coldness of the soU, and 

 the injury the roots sustain in winter ; and owing to the 

 moisture in summer, the trees will grow rapidly, but late, 

 so that the shoots will be imperfectly ripened. They will 

 in consequence be liable to die off at the points, and the 

 roots drawing vitiated watery nutriment from the_ soU, the 

 trees cannot be otherwise than unhealthy. Besides, it is 

 a mistake to plant a Peach tree on the Plum stock in a 

 wet soil, for the Plum does not thrive in such, and the 

 stock will become unhealthy. Wet soils should not only 

 have drains with a proper fall and outlet, but the drains 

 should be not less than :i feet deep, for it is not the surface 

 water but that passing from the surface to the subsoil that 

 requires to be taken oil'. If no drain can be made on 

 account of there being no fall or outlet, then the border 

 must be raised ; it is better to take from the height of the 

 wall than to plant in giound wholly unsuitable. 



Some subsoils are extremely dry. In soils resting on a 

 subsoil of gravel the trees are apt to be injured in hot 

 weather. When there is an excessive evaporation from 

 the leaves, and the roots do not supply moisture sufficient 

 for their requirements, there is a drawing from the tree 

 itself to supply the deficiency ; mildew appears on the 

 young shoots and fruit ; if not that, red spider attacks 

 the trees with a determination requiring the syringe to 

 be almost constantly at work to keep it under. Draining 

 gravelly soils is of no use unless there is water in the 

 gravel, which is rare. Some sandy soils, however, have 

 quite as much if not more water in the subsoil than 

 clay soils, and must therefore be drained. If there is 

 nothing but a diy gravelly subsoil, it will be necessary to 

 take out the soil, or some part of it, and make a proper 

 border 2 feet C inches deep. A light as well as a gravelly 

 soil may in most cases be made excellent by putting on a 

 dressing of heavy loam, clay, or marl in autumn, before 

 frost, c. iaches thick, and after the first frost digging it in 

 and mixing it with the old soil. This will make the soil 

 more retentive of moisture, and the trees will not_ suffer 

 from drought nearly so much as they would otherwise do ; 

 and in March a top-dressing of cow dung, :; inches thick, 



1 should be given, and pointed in with a fork. When the 



No. 1(U2.— Vou XX., Ou> Sebies. 



