THE PEACH. 



Persica vulgaris, Dec. Rosacea of Botanists. 



Found wild on the Himalayan mountains, and not mentioned by 

 Jewish history, it is doubtful whether the Peach is, as generally un- 

 derstood, a native of Persia and also of China. It was, however, in- 

 troduced into Italy by the Romans, and, as early as 1550, was culti- 

 vated in Britain. About the year 1680 it was introduced into this 

 country, and, with the exception of portions of the northern New 

 England States and northern New York, it is now cultivated in every 

 settled portion of our States. History clothes the peach with hav- 

 ing once possessed deleterious qualities, and Pliny mentions that it 

 was supposed the King of Persia had sent them into Egypt to poison 

 the inhabitants, with whom he was then at war. This, however, 

 with traditions, making the fruit of a Peach tree, when eaten, to con- 

 fer immortality, knowledge, and the like, are now regarded as mys- 

 ticisms of a past age, of which, nought but the tradition is left. In 

 portions of China, Spain, Italy, and the South of France, as well as 

 our own country, the Peach is grown without aid of glass, or artifi- 

 cial, or condensed heat, by means of walls, etc. ; we have therefore 

 looked to receive some variety from thence that would surpass our 

 American Seedlings, but, as yet, none have been introduced. 



The wood of the Peach, being of a more open, coarse fibre than 

 that of most fruits, we find it more susceptible to sudden and severe 

 changes of temperature, and therefore less hardy, and of shorter du- 

 ration. That this character is materially affected by soil, seems not 

 to admit of a doubt ; writers generally conceding that while in 

 unflivorable soils the Peach decays in four to ten years, in favor- 

 able soils it continues healthy and vigorous for forty or fifty years, 

 and, with the addition of being annually, correctly and freely pruned, 

 may be made to produce regularly for near one hundred years. 

 Of this we speak more at length under the head of Soil. 



Propagation. — By Seed. The seed of the Peach, if carefully 

 planted in the autumn, will often vegetate in the ensuing spring, 

 and, in good soil, make a growth the first year of three to four 

 feet ; but in order to succeed surely, it is best to gather the stones 

 from late fruiting varieties, of hardy, healthy trees ; spread them 

 about four inches thick on some light, sandy knoll and cover with 

 about four inches earth. In spring, when the frost is fully out of the 

 ground, leaving it fit for working, these stones will be found to have 



