PEACHES AND NECTARINES 197 



In any event the reappearance of the purple 

 leaf, fully pigmented, after its submergence, 

 affords another interesting illustration of the 

 segregation of hereditary characters that we have 

 repeatedly had occasion to note in connection 

 with other experiments. 



COUSINS FROM THE ORIENT 



Continuing the experiments in peach better- 

 ment, it was natural to turn to the Orient for 

 the material for further experiments in crossing. 



There is a double-flowering peach that has 

 long been under cultivation in China and Japan. 

 It is a slender, willowy tree, generally with 

 drooping branches. The blossoms are about an 

 inch and a quarter across, snowy white, or pink, 

 or deep crimson. They are quite double, resem- 

 bling little roses, and are produced in great 

 profusion. The trees, however, are dwarf and 

 ill-shaped; they are also peculiarly subject to 

 mildew and curl leaf. 



The fruit of the flowering peach is somewhat 

 almond-shaped and unusually pointed. It has 

 flesh of light color and a large stone. The fruit 

 is hardly edible even when cooked. 



I have taken particular pains to cross this 

 double flowering exotic with standard and the 

 new crossbred peaches, and have succeeded in 



