316 [ THE PEACH AND THE NECTARINE 



present it is grown in all regions of the globe where its 

 cultivation is possible. The peach may not be so pictur- 

 esque as the almond, but generally its blossoms are of a 

 more lively colour and its foliage is finer and more 

 ornamental. 



The peach ( Maltese = tiauha. Italian = pesco. 

 French = pecker 1) is a fleshy drupaceous fruit, with a 

 thick-shelled stone, deeply and irregularly furrowed, the 

 rind being covered by a thick and persistent covering 

 of short down. In the Nectarine (Ma\tese = nucifarsica. 

 Italian. = noce/>ersuo. French = nectarine, brugnon) the rind 

 is perfectly smooth, and the flesh is generally of a more 

 delicate acidulous flavour; but in other respects the 

 nectarine is a mere variety of the peach (P.persica Stock. 

 var. laevis Arc.) with the same cultural requirements and 

 with practically equal liability to the same diseases. 



The peach tree is far more delicate than the almond 

 but in favourable situations may reach a height of 5 

 metres if grafted on the almond. Its term of life may 

 be put at 30 to 40 years if grafted on the almond, 

 and at 10 to 20 years if grown on own roots or grafted 

 on the wild plum. However it agrees well with all soils, 

 preferring a deep loamy soil to a stiff and clayey one. 

 The blossoms are produced singly at the axil of the leaf, 

 one on each side of the leaf bud. In certain forms the 

 petals are fine and large and even double, and of a lively 

 pink or carmine red, in others the petals are small, 

 sometimes much smaller than the segments of the calyx. 

 In open and sunny situations the tree is more productive 

 and produces fruit of better quality, but the early sorts 

 are known to thrive well and to produce fine fruits also 

 in a comparatively shaded .situation. 



In certain years the production of the peach as well 

 as of the nectarine, the plum, and the apricot, remains 

 .much below the average. This may be due to a shower 

 of rain which has washed off the pollen at the time when 

 the tree was in full bloom, or to a sudden change of 



