322 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



peacock an article of food. His example was soon followed by the 

 epicures in. Rome, insomuch that the price paid for these birds soon 

 became exorbitant. The luxurious and effeminate emperors that suc- 

 ceeded, refining upon the luxury of former times, took a pride in col- 

 lecting immense dishes of the heads or brains of peacock* ; dainties 

 which had nothing to recommend them but the prodigious expense at 

 which they were provided. The same thing may be said of their 

 flesh, which is hard and dry. But probably the Roman cookery, 

 which was carried to a very high degree of perfection, might compen- 

 sate for these defects. Only the young at present are deemed good 

 eating : the old are seldom dressed, except at some formal and splen- 

 did feast. In France, they were formerly served up with all 

 their plumage, merely for show ; a purpose for which they are per- 

 fectly suited, as their flesh is said to remain unaffected by corruption, 

 for a longer period than that of most birds. 



PEACH. The peach is a native of the warm climate of Persia. 

 The tree is small and short-lived, but is rapid in its growth. It is 

 sometimes known to bear fruit the third year ; but usually not till 

 the fourth or fifth. This, however, is but a short time to be in wait- 

 ing for fruit of such delicious excellence ; and then, although the tree 

 does not long continue to bear, by setting out every year a few new 

 trees, the family will annually have a supply of it. The fruit is too 

 well known to need description. It flourishes finely in our Middle, 

 Western, and Southwestern States ; and occasionally it is found in 

 tolerable perfection as far north as Vermont and New Hampshire. 

 In climates and on soils most congenial to its health and productive- 

 ness, the culture of the peach is made a source of large remuneration. 

 In New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland are extensive peach orch- 

 ards, in some cases, containing 20,000 trees, and yielding five, ten, 

 or fifteen thousand dollars in a year from a single plantation. With 

 such an inducement, it is a wonder that the number engaged in the 

 business is not greater than it is. Occasionally the buds are destroyed 

 by the frosts. 



PEAR. The pear is a tall tree, of upright growth, generally 

 smaller than the apple-tree, yet rarely it is found larger. It is a 

 native of Europe and Asia, but not of Africa and America. In its 

 original state, the fruit was austere and useless for dessert. Gradual 

 improvements have been made, so that it is now rich, melting, and 

 delicious, and in some of our finest kinds, it seems to be almost in a 

 state of perfection. Under favorable circumstances, the pear forms a 

 long-lived tree. Some are said to be several hundred years old. A 

 Perry pear-tree in Herefordshire, England, produced fifteen hogsheads 

 of perry in one year. The branches bent down and took root, cover- 

 ing half an acre of land. The Endicott pear-tree is still flourishing 

 in Danvers, Massachusetts It was imported by Governor Endicott 

 in 1628 Near Vincennes, Illinois, is a pear-tree forty or fifty years 



