AMY 



AMY 



and November, or February and March, are the best 

 seasons for planting them in, care being taken to 

 select stones of the last summer's growth ; they are 

 best drilled into beds of good lightsoil, to two or 

 three inches in depth. In the spring the plants 

 will appear; and in the autumn or spring following 

 they may be transplanted into the nursery, and be 

 arranged in rows, according to the wish of the 

 planter, for the purpose of being afterwards 

 trained for standards, half standards, or dwarfs. 



When it is intended to bud any of them with 

 peaches or almonds, some of them will be in a 

 proper state for the operation for dwarfs the 

 first, and all of them the second year after being 

 transplanted _; but in order to be trained with pro- 

 per stems for standards, they should invariably 

 have three years' growth. 



It is likewise easy to raise the dwarf sorts by 

 suckers from the roots, and by layers, as well as 

 by being propagated by budding upon the plum 

 or almond-stocks. The best season for these 

 operations is the latter end of summer or begin- 

 ing of autumn. 



Pruning. — The method most common for 

 pruning trees of this sort is, to shorten the first 

 shoot from the bud to a few eyes in the spring, 

 in order that lateral shoots may be put forth by 

 the trees in proper quantity, so as to form re- 

 gular full heads. Mr. Forsyth advises, when 

 young trees are brought from the nursery, 

 never to cut them till the young shoots begin to 

 break, as about April or May, strong trees being 

 cut about a foot from the ground, and the weaker 

 ones half the distance ; but when the wood is not 

 well ripened, as after wet autumns, hard win- 

 ters are apt to kill the shoots : in such cases 

 they should be cut down to the sound wood, 

 taking care to prune out all such cross shoots as 

 rub against others, the tree being left open in the 

 middle, and the shoots cut about the same length 

 as for apricots, and in proportion to their strength, 

 always wholly cutting out and removing the de- 

 cayed wood and cankery parts of the trees. 



It is also recommended by the same practical 

 author, that they be planted in sheltered situa- 

 tions, and such as have a southern aspect, whe- 

 ther used as standards or half standards. It 

 mav be necessary, in some cases, to protect them 

 by a light covering of some kind, against the in 

 jury to be expected from the frosts in February 

 and March ; with dwarf trees this may be done 

 by fixing up poles and thatching over them with 

 fern, straw, or other similar substances, which 

 may be removed when the frost is gone, and the 

 weather fine and settled in the spring; by which 

 a good supply of almonds mav sometimes be 

 procured. Sometimes trees of this sort are plant- 

 ed in espaliers, and against walls, in order to im- 

 prove and render the fruit more early. 



To preserve the fruit of the almond-tree it is 

 necessary that it should be first properly dried, 

 and then put into either bran or sand. 



The larger sorts of these trees, from the beauty 

 of their early blossom, may be employed with 

 great effect in the back parts of the borders, or 

 clumps of shrubberies and pleasure grounds, 

 when properly intermixed with other kinds of 

 flowering shrubby trees of tall growth. They 

 are also highly ornamental when placed singly on 

 lawns, or other open spaces near the house. 



The great beauty of the dwarf sorts, when in 

 blow, will be best displayed, and have the fullest 

 effect, when they are arranged and blended with 

 other low shrubs in the fronts of such borders 

 and clumps. 



Culture in the Peach hind. — In the propagation 

 of peach-trees, it is necessary cither to bud them 

 upon plum stocks, or to set the seed : by the 

 latter method most of the fine varieties of this 

 fruit have probably been at first obtained; yet 

 it is extremely uncertain of success, from their 

 great tendency to deviate from the nature of the 

 variety of the original seed. In the raising of 

 new varieties in this method, it is best to set the 

 seeds in drills two or three inches deep, in good 

 mould, in the autumnal months, as about Octo- 

 ber or November; but when neglected at that 

 season, they may be preserved in sand till Fe- 

 bruary, and be then put in. In the ensuing spring 

 the plants will be up ; and after the growth of 

 one or two years, according to the intention of 

 the planter, they will be fit for being transplanted 

 into the nursery; in doing which they should 

 be placed in rows, at the distance of a foot or a 

 foot and a half; the proper seasons for perform- 

 ing the work being in the early autumn or 

 spring months. From this situation, after re- 

 maining twelve months, some of them may be 

 taken for the purpose of training, and being 

 planted against walls, pailing, or other fences 

 adapted to the purpose. 



But in order to propagate a variety with the 

 greatest degree of certainty and success, it is best to 

 pursue the method of budding, as by this means 

 the trees become much sooner in a state of bear- 

 ing, and, at the same time, produce a fruit, 

 which in size, colour, and taste, has an exact re- 

 semblance to that of the tree from which the bud 

 was cut. It is sometimes the case, that peaches 

 are budded on stocks of different sorts, as the 

 apricot, the almond, the plum; but the last, as 

 being more hardy and suitable to afford a full 

 bearing condition, should always be preferred : it 

 has also another advantage, that of thriving in 

 almost any kind of soil. When it can be pro- 

 cured, the muscle plum stock is by much the 

 best, as being most prosperous and durable. 



By sowing the seeds or stones in the manner 



