THE PEACH AND THE NECTARINE ] 325 



painting the wound with tar .as a preventive for dry rot, 

 and by cleaning the stems and branches of their lichens, 

 either by scraping them off with a steel- wire brush, or by 

 means of common whitewash or strong ash-lye applied by 

 a painter's brush. 



The fruit of the peach and nectarine will acquire its 

 full flavour if allowed to mature well on the tree, as the 

 percentage of sugar is at its best only in the last two or 

 three days and then the full development of the delicious 

 fragrance and pleasant acid flavour follow suit. Indeed 

 in the case of the nectarine the fruit should be gathered 

 at perfect maturity and then kept in the fruit room for a 

 day or two to develop all its exquisite qualities. However, 

 the grower for the market who has often to send over his 

 fruit for long distances, cannot afford to allow his fruit to 

 attain full maturity, as it travels badly, and on arrival 

 many fruits will be found damaged and unfit for sale. 

 The market grower generally prefers to cut the fruit as 

 soon as it begins -to show signs of maturity and is well 

 coloured, that is when it is still rather hard, and can be 

 packed and forwarded for some distance with little risk of 

 injury. At the fruiterers' shop the fruit may remain for a 

 day or two, until it is well ripe, but of course fruit treated 

 in this way cannot compare in quality with the fruit 

 grown by the amateur for his own table. 



The peaches may be classified into three groups, 

 (a) Freestone peaches in which the flesh separates easily 

 from the stone, (b) Clingstone peaches (^r^nchpeckes 

 paviesj the flesh of which adheres firmly to the stone, 

 even at full maturity, (c) Yellow peaches (French=/&Aw 

 alberges), having a yellow peel and yellow flesh, more or 

 less adhering to the stone. The blood or red peaches 

 (French=/&^*j sanguines) have blood red flesh and are 

 generally clingstones. 



The nectarines are classed into two groups, (a) Free- 

 stone nectarines ( French=flt/ies nectarines) and (b) 

 Clingstone nectarines (French=/^^ brugnons). The 

 yellow nectarines are mostly clingstones. 



