-'.'I 



1'KArll 



PEAOM K 



from the at tacks <if front ; the larger petals certainly 

 show tin- ni|w more sadly, hut the internal injury 

 U received in either ewe. The colour of (In* 

 blossom ranges from snowy-white to pink and 

 race (the latter l-eing the nioHt uxual tut), and 

 een Ui bright carmine. 



(6) The leaves of the peach and nectarine. l-ing 

 M above deacrihfd. furnish another clanMlication 

 according to the almpnn* or presence of glands, and 

 tin- form of glands when prenent. The gland is a 

 small accretion or concretion II|MHI the petiole, or 

 nt the le of the leaf iuw-lf: sometime* there it 

 one eland nt either edge, somct inn'- two, and at 

 time* even three. In form the glands vnry from 

 round to teiiiform ; or even lenticular ; lint their 

 function, if any. is not yet understood. Probably 

 they take no active parti but are mi-rely the token* 

 of a constitution adverse to fungoid overtures. 

 However that may he, they :iH'ord one more division 

 of the peach ana nectarine, according as they are 

 glandlenH or glandiihwe. the latter sulidivided into 

 those which have round and tho-e which are gifted 

 with long ehinds. 



(e) Again, tlie peach and nectarine are palpably 

 divided (accordine t<> the inner construction of the 

 fruit) into ciingttonet (or Paviet) and freestone*. 



Flf. 4 Fruit of the eUnffHone (a) and frtettone (b) 

 varieties cat CTOM to ihow the seed. 



In the former the stone seems to radiate, as it were 

 by tentacle*, into the flesh, and the eatable part 

 will not i|iiit hold without great low of the delirious 

 juice These peaches are therefore only fit to lie 

 itiieked. for to quarter them fairly is impossible. 

 And it is a Had indictment against the |>eaches 

 of America that they In-lone mainly to the mm- 

 ecahle section. Hut the freestones, chiefly grown 

 in Kurope, part from the MUM.- with litile'ruptiire 

 of tissue, and melt in the mouth in-te:nl of gnsh- 

 ine on the plate. All the alxive lioing cross. 

 dill-ions, the classes of the iieach grow mani- 

 fold; hut the cullivation is tlie same with all. 

 \Vh"ii grown "" it own roots or on peach-stock 

 tie- tree i- short -lived, and being treated thus in 

 America is worn out in some twenty live years. 

 In Franco it in worked ii|ton the almond or the 

 plum : in I'.ngland the mussel stork is the most 

 approved; and upon this it attains the greatest 

 Hut grow it as w-e may. it is inipalii-nt of the 

 knife, HIM! must receive it* orders at a verv early 

 In the southern parts of Knglitiul Imth 

 nectarine* ami |>earhei< rip.-n well upon the open 

 wall, or even on dwarf standanls in fine summers. 

 and fruit so ripened is the In-st of all: but the 

 summer* of reeeni years have much discouraged 

 our faith in nature, which is now becoming con- 



in glam. 



Though many good varieties have been added 

 lately \i\ the -kill of nursery men, the older kind* 

 are not yet oU.dct.- ; im.l the chief gain, if any. is 

 in I lie lenetheniiig of the |>eriod hen ripe peaches 



of some xort ciin In- eathered out of doors. Am.-tlran 



kinds, such ax Air ninilrr, Ainialrii'.i Jinn, and 

 -/, may ri|M-n on the open wall in .July; 

 but like other prematurity are little worth. As 

 yt we lind nothing arisen newly to stir) 

 J -nt In.nd- .\oblette, Galande, Grotte 



iiniinr, an. I the like, well known for many genera- 

 tioim, and chielly of French origin. 



[In the I'nited States peaches are grown profit- 

 ably an far north an 40 V Int. at least; enormous 

 quantities are sent to the markets, and the fruit, 

 in Mime form, is brought easily within the reach 

 of all clauses. The principal pMeh-growiai Htates 

 are Delaware, Maryland, Virginia. PMimmraaia, 

 and New Jersey, in this order ; but the fruit is also 

 largely cultivated in Georgia, Florida, ami Texas 

 for the early market, from near the ereat lakes all 

 down the Mis-if-sippi valley, and in California and 

 Oregon. The canning of peaches U an important 

 industry.] 



For description of varieties, see Andr4 Leroy'a Die- 

 tionnairc de Pumoloyie ; R.H.S. Catalogue of Fruit.', 

 edited by Thompson; Dr Hogg's Fruit Manual; The 

 ih-riianli.it, by John Scott ; The Growth of Fruit under 

 Olau, by Thomson ; and the treatises of the late Thomas 

 Rivers. 



Pcarhwood. See DYKINC, Vol. IV. p. 138. 



IVarork (/'), a genus allied to pheasants 

 and other game-birds, including at leant two species 



the Indian and Singhalese/', rrixlittim. domc-ti 

 cated in Britain and other countries, and the 

 Malayan I', iiuiticiis, inhabiting Java, Borneo, and 

 similar regions. The Indian peafowls live in 

 Mocks, especially in mountainous ami wooded 

 districts, and are often accompanied by the tiger ; 

 though whether the tiger derives l.eneiit from the 

 wariness or flesh of the birds is uncertain. The 

 birds most in trees, and eat omnivorouslv worms, 

 insects, small snakes, seeds, &c. At tlie pairing 

 season rival males display tlie well-known beauty 

 of their tail-coverts before their desired mates, and 

 strut almut after the fashion of many game biids. 

 They sometimes light fiercely \\ith their rivals, and 

 tlie females sometimes pay court to the males. 

 Polygamy prevails, but there seems no truth in 

 the old stories about the cruelty of the males to 

 their mates. The usual cry is a shrill Poo, and 

 strange noises are made by rattling the quills. 

 The females lay, according to the climatic con- 

 ditions, from April to October ; the eggs, of a 

 brownish colour, are numerous (eight to ten), and 

 are laid without a next in some concealed part of 

 the jungle. At lirst both sexes are alike in plum- 

 age, but after a year or so the males gradually 

 acquire their gorgeous feather*, which are perfected 

 alMiut the tliird year. It is not necessary to 

 descriU- these colours, so delightfully familiar to 

 all, but it may IK- noted that they are for the most 

 part of a physical nature, lieing am not so much to 

 pigment as to external markings, which prodme 

 nidcscence. As to the evolution of the eye-like 

 markings, which occur in varying degrees of per- 

 fection, we have on the one hand to reeogni-e 

 with l>arwin that the more lieautifiilly dccoiated 

 male- are selected by their mate-, and on the other 

 hand that we do not know to what precise con 

 ditions of feather growth the marvellous beauty is 

 due. The Javan peafowl is said to lie even hand- 

 somer than the familiar species. Its -ciest, head. 

 and neck are rich green, the breast bluish green 

 margined with gold, the back bright copper -colour 

 l.aried with green and light brown, and the upper 

 tail coveits rich green with gold and copper colour 

 rcth-ctioiis.' White or pied peacocks occasionally 

 occur as sport*, and yet more remarkable is the 

 'iapanned breed, which seems to have arisen quite 

 abruptly. 



The peacock seems to have IM-CII well known in 

 U after Alexander's Indian expedition, but 

 it was known in .Indira even in the time of Solomon. 

 From Greece it spread to Rome and gradually west- 

 wards. In many different ways it has touched 

 human life and fancy : it was the bird of Juno to 

 the I Jreeks and Romans, and emblematic of a glori- 



