AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



425 



Nectarine continued. 



to prepare them elsewhere, and transplant into perma- 

 nent positions when they are nearly or quite ready for 

 fruit-bearing. It will be necessary to prepare a border 

 inside the house at least, for those intended to be 

 forced ; the roots are also far more under control when 

 thus restricted at all seasons. Efficient drainage must 

 be provided, and a depth of about 2ift. of soil is recom- 



FIG. 658. SECTION OF LEAN-TO PEACH-HOUSE, showing Position 

 for (a) three 3in. and (6) two 4in. Hot-water Pipes. 



mended. This should be a prepared compost of fairly 

 good loam, some crushed ^in. bones, and plenty of 

 mortar rubbish, well intermixed. The borders should 

 never be allowed to get dry, but, of course, more water 

 will be required at different seasons, according to the 

 various stages in which the fruits may be. Many of the 

 tenderer varieties of mid-season and late Peaches and 

 Nectarines only succeed satisfactorily under glass pro- 

 tection, and all the best are well worthy of it. A Peach- 

 house in which forcing is to be conducted is best con- 

 structed as a lean-to, and the roof should preferably be 

 of a steep pitch, and either carried down low at the 



FIG. 659. SECTION OF HOUSE OR GLASS CASE FOR COVERING 

 PEACH AND NECTAKINE TREES ON WALLS, showing (a) 

 Position for four 3in. Hot-water Pipes. 



front, as shown in Fig. 659 a style that would also 

 answer for constructing as a glass case over trees on 



Nectarine continued. 



walls or be provided with front sashes for the admis- 

 sion of light (see Pig. 658). It should, at any rate, 

 be provided with some method of free ventilation, and, 

 if possible, the roof-sashes made movable, in order that 

 the trees may be subjected to full exposure each year 

 after their fruits are gathered. Fan-trained trees, on 

 dwarf, and also on tall, " rider " stocks, are the shapes 

 most favoured for indoor culture. Cordons are well 

 suited for planting in houses intended for mid-season 

 and late supplies, as an opportunity is thus given of 

 including many fine varieties in a limited space, and 

 excellent fruits are also invariably obtained under 

 this system of training. Sorts thoroughly adapted for 

 forcing are far from numerous; consequently, it is not 

 advisable to rely on any that have not been thoroughly 

 proved. Elrnge is, perhaps, the best of all Nectarines 

 for early forcing ; it seldom fails in producing a crop, if 

 proper treatment is given. Supposing a good tree of 

 this, and another of an Early Grosse Mignonne Peach, 

 were planted in an early house (these varieties succeed 

 admirably together for the purpose), the Nectarine 

 should be accorded the warmer end, if there is a diffe- 

 rence, as it will always bear more heat than the Peach. 

 Standard Peach-trees are sometimes grown in orchard- 

 houses, in pots, and also planted in the borders. This 

 style of training is, however, not much favoured by culti- 

 vators, and is not here recommended, on account of such 

 a number of fruits being shaded with foliage, and con- 

 sequently but imperfectly ripened, and of poor quality 

 in comparison with others fully exposed to sun and air 

 daring the whole of the time they are swelling and 

 ripening. 



The habit assumed by trees bearing stone-fruits 

 of which the Nectarine and Peach are important ex- 

 amples may be briefly referred to, as it is by no 

 means well understood. The terms, too, in use respect- 

 ing various stages through which the fruits pass, have 

 but little significance, unless the meaning of each be 

 explained. So soon as the flowering stage is over, and 

 the fruits are set, what is termed the first swelling begins. 

 After a time, stoning, or the formation of the kernel in 

 the fruit, commences ; and, during this process, the latter 

 remains stationary, so far as enlargement is concerned. 

 When stoning is completed, the fruit swells, and, in due 

 course, ripens off. These several stages are termed re- 

 spectively the flowering, first swelling, stoning, second 

 swelling, and ripening, periods. The seasons for giving 

 assistance to the trees, either by adding a top-dressing 

 of manure over the border, or by an application of liquid 

 manure water to the roots, are naturally those when 

 the fruits are swelling, as, at such periods, a larger amount 

 of nourishment is requisite, and the effect is more 

 marked, than at other times. 



Forcing. For obtaining early Peaches and Nectarines, 

 forcing operations may be commenced in November, 

 or early in December. The trees should have been 

 previously well ripened, pruned, and properly tied in 

 position to the trellis, or nailed to the wall, as the 

 case may be ; and the house, sashes, &c., should also 

 have been thoroughly cleaned. A mere closing of the 

 ventilators will be sufficient for the first few days, as no 

 trees are more sensitive to heat ; and from this arises 

 a danger of the blossoms dropping prematurely. A tem- 

 perature of 40deg. to 45deg. by night, with a little air 

 and a rise of 5deg. by day, is quite high enough at 

 first ; and, if this can be maintained until the flowers 

 expand, by employing a heap of fermenting material, 

 instead of fire heat, it will be far preferable. In any 

 case, fire heat must only be very cautiously applied, until 

 after the fruits are set, as much more harm is to be 

 apprehended from a high, than from a comparatively 

 low temperature, provided this latter does not reach 

 the freezing point. As the flowers expand, a circula- 



