CHAPTER XV. 



PEACi £S, PLUMS, CHERRIES, AND APRICOTS. 



|LL these fruits are within the reach of, and may be profi- 

 tably cultivated by the farmer. Especially should 

 {^Qiy^ farmers' boys, not yet fit for the heavy work of the farm, 



^ devote much time and attention to the cultivation of 

 these delightful fruits. We will try to make the directions 

 for their cultivation and care so plain that any bright boy can 

 understand it. 



The Stocks for these fruits are easily raised from seeds. 

 Plump, fair, and healthy fruit should be selected, and after the 

 flesh has been used for the table the stones should be washed 

 clean, spread out, and thoroughly dried. "When dry, pack them 

 in sand, in boxes, a layer of sand, then a layer of stones ; this 

 box should then be buried on the north or west side of a wall 

 or building, just below the surface, and a mound made over the 

 top that will shed the rain. Here they will be subjected to the 

 frosts of winter and will germinate. Just before the ground 

 is ready for planting in the spring take them up, and carefully 

 '3racking with a wooden mallet on a wooden block such as have 

 QOt opened, put them back in the ground for a couple of weeks, 

 3ut not so deep as before, and without the mound, as the 

 ivarmth and moisture will now assist them to sprout. In two 

 veeks, or as soon after as the ground will admit of planting, take 



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