io6 THE BOOK OF THE PEACH. 



years, peaches and nectarines swelled out and 

 ripened on bush, pyramidal, and half-standard trees 

 growing in the open in localities with far less 

 favourable conditions as regards soil and situation 

 than those under which such good results have 

 been obtained at Mr. Turner's nursery. There 

 the fruits of Early Rivers were large and highly 

 coloured. 



There are plenty of places in nearly every parish in 

 Great Britain and Ireland in which bush, pyramidal, 

 and half-standard trained trees of the peach and 

 nectarine would grow and ripen their crops of 

 luscious fruits freely and thoroughly in the open. 

 The most favourable conditions under which to 

 grow the above-mentioned trees in the best possible 

 manner as regards soil and situation are as follow : 

 Good, loamy soil of fair depth, sloping well to the 

 south or west, and sheltered somewhat from north- 

 west to east by a belt of trees or high hedges. 

 Trees planted in good-sized holes made on the 

 sunny slopes of hills such as are to be found in 

 the neighbourhoods of our valleys fertile and 

 otherwise throughout the country, and the summits 

 of which would afford all necessary shelter to 

 the trees. Where the natural soil is not considered 

 good enough, add some prepared mould thereto in 

 sufficient quantity to render it suitable to a satis- 

 factory root-and-branch growth being made and 



