THE PEACH. 



Persica vulgaris, Dec. Rosacea of Botanists. 



FOUND wild on the Himalayan mountains, and not mentioned in 

 Jewish history, it is doubtful whether the Peach is, as generally 

 understood, a native of Persia and also of China. It was, however, 

 introduced into Italy by the Romans, and, as early as 1550, was cul- 

 tivated in Britain. About the year 1680 it was introduced into this 

 country, and, with the exception of portions of the Northern New 

 England States and Northern New York, it is now cultivated in every 

 settled portion of our States. History clothes the Peach with delete- 

 rious qualities, and Pliny mentions that it was supposed the King of 

 Persia had sent them into Egypt to poison the inhabitants, with 

 whom he was then at war. In portions of China, Spain, Italy, and 

 the South of France, as well as our own country, the peach is grown 

 without aid of glass, or artificial heat, or by means of walls, etc. ; we 

 have, therefore, looked to receive some variety from abroad that 

 would surpass our American Seedlings, but, as yet, none have been 

 introduced. 



The wood of the peach, being of a more open, coarse fibre than 

 that of most fruits, we find it more susceptible to sudden and severe 

 changes of temperature, and therefore less hardy, and of shorter dura- 

 tion. That this character is materially affected by soil, seems not to 

 admit of a doubt ; writers generally conceding that while in unfavor- 

 able soils the peach decays in four to ten years, in favorable ones it 

 continues healthy and vigorous for forty or fifty years, and, with the 

 addition of being annually correctly and freely pruned, may be made 

 to produce regularly for near one hundred years. Of this we speak 

 more at length under the bead of SOIL. 



Propagation. By Seed. The seed of the peach, if carefully 

 planted in the Autumn, will often vegetate in the ensuing Spring, 

 and, in good soil, make a growth, the first year, of three to four feet ; 

 but in order to succeed surely, it is best to gather the stones from 

 late fruiting varieties, of hardy, healthy trees ; spread them about 

 four inches thick, on some light, sandy knoll, and cover with about 

 four inches earth. In Spring, when the frost is fully out of the 

 ground, leaving it fit for working, these stones will be found to have 

 mostly cracked and the germ just started ; they should then be care- 

 fully planted in rows, four feet apart, and one seed every foot in the 

 row, covered about two inches deep. The stones that are not cracked 



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