PEA WEEVILS 



640 



PEACH 



hot, showery weather occurs, they will open and shed 

 their seed. 



Forcing commences in December, in the early part of 

 which month they may be sown in a hotbed to remain, 

 or thick to transplant, during the succeeding month, into 

 others for production. These may be repeated in J anuary, 

 and the transplanting takes place in February. It is 

 also a common practice to sow in a warm border during 

 October, and the plants being cultivated as a natural 

 ground crop, are removed into a hotbed during J anuary. 



The hotbed must be moderate, and earthed equally 

 over the depth of 6 or 8 inches with light, fresh mould 

 not particularly rich. The seed must be buried i inch 

 deep. The frame, which is required to be 2$ feet high 

 behind, and i in front, ought to be put on three or four 

 days before the crop is sown, that the steam and heat 

 may abate. Seed may likewise be sown at the above 

 times in pots or pans, and placed round the binns of the 

 stove. At the close of September, also, some peas may 

 be sown in pots, and sunk in the earth of any open 

 compartment ; when the frost commences, to be re- 

 moved into the greenhouse. A border of fresh earth 

 being made in the front of it early in December, the 

 plants are removed into it, in rows 2 feet asunder, or, 

 still better, in pairs, with 10 inches interval, and 2$ feet 

 between each pair. These will come into production 

 about the middle of March. 



In every instance, as stated above, the rows should be 

 2 feet, the seed or plants being set an inch asunder. The 

 plants are ready for moving when an inch or two high. 

 They must be shaded and gently watered until they have 

 taken root. Preserve as much earth about their roots 

 at the time of removal as possible. 



Transplanted peas are most productive, and run the 

 least to straw in the forcing frames. Air must be ad- 

 mitted as freely as circumstances permit, the same pre- 

 cautions being necessary as for Cucumbers. Water must 

 be given at first sparingly, otherwise decay or super- 

 luxuriance will be occasioned ; but when they are in 

 blossom, and during the succeeding stages of growth, it 

 may be applied oftener and more abundantly, as it is 

 necessary for the setting and swelling of the fruit. 



The shading during hot days, and covering at night, 

 must also be particularly attended to. From three to 

 five months elapse between the times of sowing and pro- 

 duction, according to the fineness of the season, length 

 of the days, &c. 



The temperature may be uniformly kept up throughout 

 their growth, having 50 for the minimum at night, and 

 70 for their maximum by day. 



PEA WEEVILS. SeeSixoNA. 



PEACH. Pru'nus Pe'rsica. 



Select Varieties in the Order of their Ripening. Those in 

 italics are good forcing peaches. Early Alexander, Hole's 

 Early, Dr. Hogg, Grosse Mignonne, Dymond, Royal 

 George, Alexandra, Noblesse, Bellegarde, or Galande, Bar- 

 rington, Late Admirable, Walburton Admirable, and 

 Princess of Wales. 



Propagation: Budding.- 1 This is performed during 

 July. (See BUDDING.) Some persons plant the stock 

 against the wall in its permanent situation, and bud it 

 there ; but peaches are principally budded in the nursery. 

 The bud is introduced at about 6 inches from the ground. 

 It remains dormant until the succeeding spring, when 

 the head of the stock is cut off close above the bud, and 

 the wound pared off particularly neat, in order that the 

 returning sap may heal and skin it over. It is a good 

 practice to apply some white lead, or a similar material, 

 in order to exclude the air and moisture. During this 

 summer the young bud will produce a shoot of some 2 

 or 3 feet in length, and this is headed back in the suc- 

 ceeding spring to about five or six eyes, thus leaving 

 about 5 or 6 inches of the base of the shoot. The bud 

 generally produces laterals during the first summer, 

 especially towards the upper end ; and the point where 

 these commence branching generally dictates the point 

 to which they are cut back. In the summer following 

 they will produce four or five shoots, which must be 

 carefully trained, and kept totally free from insects, 

 and in the succeeding autumn the tree is fit for removal 

 to a wall. Plants with one shoot, or of the season next 

 after the budding, are termed by our nurserymen maidens; 

 but in the succeeding summer they are termed trained 

 trees. There is no better stock for general peach-budding 

 than the Plum, a kind called the Muscle being very 



generally used. Some persons advocate the use of either 

 Almond stocks or Peaches raised from the stone ; but it 

 is scarcely safe to recommend the practice. The Ameri- 

 cans, to be sure, raise many of their orchards from the 

 stone ; but they have a very different climate to deal 

 with, and we hear, moreover, many complaints of the 

 short-lived character of their trees. The peach stones 

 may either be sown in heat to expedite them, or other- 

 wise. They should be cleansed and dried at the ripening 

 period, and may be sown late in the autumn, care being 

 taken to preserve them from the mice. The seedlings 

 must be carefully transplanted like other shrubs ; those 

 raised in heat in pots, and those in the open ground to 

 the nursery immediately after one summer's growth, 

 unless sowed to remain. Their pruning must be per- 

 formed as other stocks, and their subsequent culture 

 similar. 



Soils, 6-c. The selection of a proper soil, and the 

 securing a sound and dry subsoil, are of as much import- 

 ance with the peach as with the vine. Three- fourths 

 of the trees in this kingdom have been ruined by borders 

 too deep, too damp, and too rich. Unless proper means 

 be taken to ripen the wood, all other labours are vain. 

 The first step in root culture is to examine the subsoil ; 

 if this is not sound and dry, it must at once be thoroughly 

 drained. As to depth of soil, we do not exceed 2 feet, 

 and nobody has had greater success for many years. 

 How much, however, that depth is above the ground- 

 level must depend on the character of the locality : if 

 a low and damp district, we would have nearly half the 

 volume of the soil above the front walk ; if a very dry 

 and elevated spot, not more than a third. The latitude 

 of the place should also have an influence ; and in many 

 parts of Scotland and the north of Ireland we should 

 raise nearly the whole border above the ordinary level. 

 No soil is fitter than a good, sound, hazel loam ; but, 

 whatever be the colour, it is absolutely essential that it 

 be of a texture slightly adhesive. We introduce no 

 manure with such a soil, but generally mix with it about 

 one-third of ordinary dark, light garden soil, adding 

 about one-sixth of ordinary tree or shrub leaves with the 

 whole. We generally make an artificial subsoil, planting 

 on what we term " prepared stations." The site being 

 drained, and the excavations formed, brick-bats, or any 

 imperishable rubbish, is strewed over the bottom, and 

 then covered with cinders ; the latter have a couple of 

 barrows of half-decayed leaves spread over them. This 

 comprises the whole of our preparations. As for manures, 

 we top-dress systematically every year in May : this 

 forms an essential accompaniment of the shallow border 

 system. 



Culture during the Growing Period. Protection to the 

 blossoms is the first thing in early spring. (See PRO- 

 TECTION.) The next point is disbudding. Healthy trees 

 are sure to produce a host of little shoots, which must 

 not be retained. Disbudding is best performed by 

 degrees, and about three periods two or three weeks 

 apart suffice. At the first, which should be when the 

 young shoots are from 2 to 3 inches in length, those 

 shoots only need be removed which project nearly at 

 right angles from the wall ; as, also, those which shoot 

 between the wall and the branch. Nothing can justify 

 the reservation of any of these but bare spaces of walling ; 

 such should be covered, even if by shoots of inferior 

 character. At the second disbudding a sort of "singling 

 out " may be practised. At the third thinning a clever 

 selection should be made, and in doing so we would 

 direct especial attention to the preservation of the lowest- 

 placed young shoots all over the tree, for on these mainly 

 depends the supply of successional wood. By the fan 

 mode of training, which is at least equal to any other 

 mode, acute angles, of course, are formed by every two 

 branches when they meet. The lowest shoot in this 

 angle, then, must be carefully preserved, and if over- 

 topping the next shoot ahead, it may at once be pinched. 

 Our practice is to turn next to all the extreme points, 

 and to set the leading shoot free. It is of no use suffering 

 any side-shoots to compete with the leading ones ; there- 

 fore, all within 4 or 5 inches may be stripped away, or, if 

 doubtful, pinched. And now a regular thinning or dis- 

 budding must be carried out between the bole and the 

 extremities of the branches ; and the only requisite is 

 not to suffer, if possible, two young shoots to proceed 

 side by side from any given point. Thus, training from 

 any young shoot at the base, we would not reserve 

 another nearer than 4 or 5 inches up any given line, and 



