Chapter V. 



stone fruits. — peach; nectarine; almond; 

 apricot; pli'm; cherry; olive. 



a. Piach. b. Nectarine. c. Apricot. d. Alinond. 



The principal stone fruits, that are valued chiefly as 

 fruits, without any reference to their other qualities, 

 are the peach and nectarine, which are only varieties 

 of the same species, the almond, the apricot, the 

 plum, and the cherry. The first belong- to the Lin- 

 naean genus Amygdalus, and the latter three to that 

 of Prxuius. 



It seems doubtful whether the almond, however 

 different it is in its fructification, is not the same 

 species with the peach. The identity of the peach 

 and the nectarine has been fully established. Speci- 

 mens raised from the stone have not only borne fruit, 

 having on one part of the tree the downy coat of the 



2d 



