ON THE EARLY PUBERTY OF THE PEACH TREE. 



55 



a little to the eastward on the side of a 

 high hill. Though much of the produce 

 of this superior garden is altrihnted to the 

 attentive pruning, yet Mr. Wortley was 

 equally fortunate in the preservation of 

 his peaches and nectarines in ISIO and 

 1811, when that kind of fruit was entirely 

 destroyed hy the frost in neighbouring 

 gardens. The gardener applieil cold water 

 at the blooming and setting of the fruit in 

 the following manner: if upon visiting the 

 trees before the sun is up in ihe morning, 

 after a frosty night; he finds that there is 

 any appearance of frost in the bloom or 

 j'-oung fruit, he waters the bloom or young 

 fruit thoroughly with cold water, from the 

 garden engine, and even if the blossoms 

 and young fruit are discolored this opera- 

 tion recovers them provided it he done 

 before the sun comes upon them, and he 

 has sometimes occasion to water particu- 

 lar parts of the trees more than once in 

 the same morning, before he can get en- 

 tirely rid of the effects of the frost. This 

 method was first discovered by an acci- 

 dent, watering cabbage plants among some 

 rows of kidney beans, early in a frosty 

 morning, part of the water was spilled on 

 the beans, and these beans were found 

 immediately to recover from the effect of 

 the frost; the extent of wall on which the 

 fruit was in this manner successfully pre- 

 served was 172 yards. 



ON THE EARLY PUBERTY OF THE PEACH 



TREE. 

 By T. A. KNIGHT, Esqr. Hort. Trans. Vol 2. part 1. 



Mr. Knight snbjected peach seeds to an 

 artificial heat in February, and the plants 

 appeared above the soil early in March 

 and were kept under glass during the 

 whole summer and autumn, but without 

 any artificial heat after the end of May. 

 As many lateral shoots were suffered to 

 remain upon the plant, as could present 

 their foliage to the light, and these were 

 shortened while very young to the 4th or 

 5th leaf, and the buds in the axillae of 

 these leaves were destroyed as soon as 

 they became visible, so that none of the 

 sap generated by these leaves might be 

 uselessly expended; the pots were filled 

 with green turf of a rich meadow which 

 had been overflowed, and were thrice 

 changed during the summer and new por- 

 tions of the living turf, added at the same 



time. The summer proving cold and cloudy 

 all hope of success was relinquished for 

 that year, and artificial heat in autumn 

 was not applied; yet late in the autumn 

 three of the seven plants uncx]:)ectedly 

 formed blossom buds, and these buds pre- 

 sented so vigorous and healthy a charac- 

 ter, as to leave no doubt of their being 

 capable of producing fiuit. 



Observations. — i'iiis experiment shows 

 how much may be effected by judicious 

 training which enables the gardener to ac- 

 complish many objects in a shorter space 

 of time than would be otherwise required. 

 The bearing of the peach tree may be al- 

 ways actuated by shortening the branches. 



Directions for covering the soil in Hot 

 Beds and Pineries, and on the proper 

 time for sowi7ig small seeds, hy Mr. 

 Henderson, Bred leu Castle. 



Memoirs of Caledonian Hort. Society, Vol. 1, part 2. 



The advantages resulting from cover- 

 ing the beds of hot houses and pineries 

 with fine drifted river or sea sand, three 

 inches deep are stated to be extirpating 

 the Slater, or wood louse, the nature of 

 the sand preventing this insect from con- 

 cealing itself from the ra}' s of the sun: keep- 

 ing down the s(eam in dung hot beds, and 

 aflording to the fruit as warm and dry a bed 

 as tiles or slates. This covering also retains 

 the moisture in the beds longer than any 

 other, and is itself sooner dry, and always 

 gives the house a clean and neat appear- 

 ance, and will be found a great preven- 

 tive of that alarming evil the mildew. 

 The remainder of the paper relates to the 

 most proper time for sowing the smaller 

 seeds, of both flowers and shrubs; which 

 is recommended to be done at such times 

 as the insects that feed upon them, do not 

 produce their young from the eggs crys- 

 alides of the former year. 



Attention to this circumstance is thought 

 of more importance to securing a crop, 

 than any particular mode of culture what' 

 ever. 



Observations. — The direction for cov- 

 ering the beds in hot houses with fine sand 

 is among the most valuable improvements 

 in garden management of the present day. 

 And as difl'erent insects are hatched at 

 different periods, it will be advantageous 

 to prevent any seed from vegetating at the 



