PEACH PEAR. 291 



one season, the trees are ready for sale at one year from 

 the bud and two years from the seed. Peach trees should 

 never be more than a year old (from the bud) for orchard 

 planting. June-budded trees are much used in the south 

 (see page 103). Peach trees are always shield-budded, 

 and the operation is fully described on pages 95 to 105. 

 Grafting can be done, but as budding is so easily per- 

 formed, there is no occasion for it. The peach shoots are 

 so pithy that, in making cions, it is well to leave a portion 

 of the old wood upon the lower end extending part way 

 up the cut to give the cion strength. Peach wounds heal 

 so slowly and imperfectly th'at grafting is never to be 

 recommended. 



Peaches are nearly always worked upon peaches in this 

 country. Plums are occasionally employed for damp and 

 strong soils. Myrobalan plum is sometimes used, but it 

 cannot be recommended. All plums dwarf the peach 

 more or less. The hard-shell almond is a good stock 

 for very light and dry soils. The Peen-to and similar 

 peaches are worked upon common peach stocks. 



The ornamental peaches are budded upon common 

 peach stocks in the same manner as the fruit-bearing sorts. 



The nectarine is propagated in exactly the same manner 

 as the peach. 



For Prunus Simoni, see Plum. 



Pea-nut. See Arachis. 



Pear, Alligator or Avocado. See Persea. 



Pear ( Pyrus corn-munis, P. Sinensis}. Rosacece. 



Pear seedlings are grown in the same manner as those 

 of the apple, which see. Pear stocks are imported from 

 France, however, as the leaf-blight is so destructive to 

 them here as to render their culture unprofitable. This 

 leaf-blight is a fungus (Entomosporium maculatum], and 

 recent experiment has shown that it can be readily over- 

 come by four or five thorough sprayings with Bordeaux 

 mixture, so that there is reason to hope that the growing 

 of pear stocks may yet become profitable in this country, 

 although the higher price of labor here, and the drier sum- 

 mers, are serious disadvantages. Heretofore, the only 

 means of mitigating the ravages of this blight was the 

 uncertain one of inducing a strong growth early in the 

 season. Even when pear stocks are raised in this coun- 

 try, they are grown from imported French seed. Aside 



