AMY 



AMY 



and November, ox February and March, arc the best 

 seasons for planting thcin in, care being taken to 

 select stones of the last summer's growth ; they arc 

 best drilled into beds of good lisht soil, to two or 

 three inches in depth. In the spring the plants 

 ^\■ill appear ; and in thcautumn or spring following 

 they mav be transplanted into the nursery, and he 

 arranged in rows, according to the wish of the 

 planter, for the purpose of being afterwards 

 trained for standards, half standards, or dw arfs. 



When it is intended to bud any of iheui with 

 peaches or almonds, some of them will be in a 

 proper state for the operation for dwarfs the 

 first, and all of them the second yeaf after being 

 transplanted ; but ni order to be trained with pro- 

 per stems for standards, they should invariably 

 have three years' growth. 



It is likewise easy to raise the dwarf sorts by 

 suckers from the roots, and bv layers, as well as 

 by being propagated bv buddmg upon the plum 

 or almond-stocks. The best season tor these 

 operations is the latter end of summer or begin- 

 ing of autumn. 



Pnmiiii^. — The method most common for 

 pnming trees of this sort is, to shorten the first 

 shoot from the bud to a few eves in the sprine, 

 in order that lateral shoots may be put forth bv 

 the trees in proper quantity, so as to form re- 

 gular full heads. Mr. P'orsyth advises, when 

 young trees are brought from the nursery, 

 never to cut them till the voung shoots begin to 

 break, as about April or May, strong trees oeing 

 cut about a foot from the ground, and the weaker 

 cues half the distance ; but when the wood is not 

 well ripened, as after wet autumns, hard win- 

 ters are apt to kill the shoots : in such cases 

 they should be cut down to the sound wood, 

 takins: care to prune out all such cross shoots as 

 rub against others, the tree being left open in the 

 middle, and the shoots cut about the same length 

 as for apricots, and in proportion to their strencth, 

 always whoUv cutting out and removing the de- 

 cayed w ood and canker)' parts of the trees. 



It is also recommended by the same practical 

 author, that thev be planted in sheltered situa- 

 tions, and such as h.ave a southern asjjeet, whe- 

 ther used as standards or half standards. It 

 uiav be necessary, in some cases, to protect them 

 bv a light covering of some kind, against the in 

 jury to be expected from the frosts in February 

 and March ; with dwarf trees this maybe done 

 bv fixing up poles and thatching over them with 

 fern, straw, or other similar substances, which 

 may be removed w hen the frost is gone, and the 

 weather fine and settled in the spring ; by w hieh 

 a good supply of almonds may sometimes be 

 procured. Sometimes trees of this sort are plant- 

 ed in espaliers, and against w alls, in order to im- 

 prove and render the fruit more early. 



To preserve the fruit of the almond-free it is 

 necessary that it should be (irst pro|Kily dried, 

 and then put into either bran or sand. 



The larger sorts of these trees, from the beauty 

 of their early blossom, may be employed with 

 great effect in the back parts of the borders, or 

 chimps of shrubberies and pleasure tjrounds, 

 when properly intermixed with other kinds of 

 flowering shrubby trees of tall growth. They 

 are also highly ornamental w hen placed singly on 

 law ns, or other open spaces near the house. 



The great beauty of tlie dwarf sorts, when in 

 blow, will be best displayed, and have the fulle»t 

 effect, when they are arranged and blended with 

 other low shrubs in the fronts of such borders 

 and clumps. 



Culture in the Peach kind. — In the propagation 

 of peach-trees, it is necessary cither to bud them 

 upon plum stocks, or to set the seed : by the 

 latter method most of the fine varieties of this 

 fruit have probably been at first obtained j yet 

 it is extremely uncertain of success, from their 

 great tendency to deviate from the nature of the 

 variety of the original seed. In the raising of 

 new varieties in this method, it is best to set the 

 seeds in drills two or three inches deep, in good 

 mould, in the autunmal months, as about Octo- 

 ber or Kovembor; but when neglected at that 

 season, they mav be preser\ed in sand till Fe- 

 bruary, and be then put in. In the ensuing spring 

 the plants will be up ; and after tiie growth of 

 one or two years, according to the intention of 

 the planter, they will be fit for being transplanted 

 into the nurser\- ; in doing which they should 

 be placed in rows, at the distance of a foot or a 

 foot and a half; the proper seasons for perform- 

 ing the work being in the early autumn or 

 spring months. From this situation, after re- 

 maining twelve months, some of them may be 

 taken for the purpose of training, .and being 

 planted against walls, palling, or other fences 

 adapted to the purpose. 



But in order to propagate a variety w ith the 

 greatest degree of eertaintyand success, it is bestto 

 pursue the method of buddiii'j-, asbvthis means 

 the trees become much sooner in a stale of bear- 

 ing, and, at the same time, produce a fruit, 

 which in size, colour, and taste, has an exact re- 

 semblance to that of the tree from which the bud 

 was cut. It is sometimes the case, that peaches 

 are budded on stocks of different sorts, as the 

 apricot, the almond, the plum ; but the last, as 

 being more hardy and suitable to afford a full 

 bearing condition, should always be preferred : ii 

 has also another .idv.Tiit.ige, that of thiiving in 

 almost any kind of soil. When it can be pro- 

 cured, the muscle plum stoek is by much the 

 best, as being most prosperous and durable. 



By sow ing the seeds or stones in the manner 



