USES. 



283 



Figr. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



Fiff. a 



The accompanying figures are illustrative : 



Figure 1, the ser- 

 rated without glands ; 

 figure 2, coarsely ser- 

 rated, and with glo- 

 bose gUmds ; figure 3, 

 creneate and with reni- 

 form or kidney-shaped 

 glands. "The form of 

 the glands," observes 

 Lindley, " as well as 

 their position, is per- 

 fectly distinct ; thejare 

 fully developed in the 

 month of May, and con- 

 tinue to the last permanent in their character, and are not affected 

 by cultivation. The globose glands are situated, one, two, or more, 

 on the foot-stalks, and one, two, or more, on the tips or points .of the 

 serratures of the leaves. The reniform glands grow also on the 

 foot-stalks of the leaves, but those on the leaves are placed within the 

 serratures, connecting, as it v/ere, the upper and lower teeth of the 

 serratures together ; their leaves, when taken from a branch of 

 vigorous growth, have more glands than the leaves of the globose 

 varieties. It will, however, sometimes happen that glands are not 

 discernible on some of the leaves, especially on those produced from 

 weak branches ; in this case, other branches must be sought for which 

 do produce them." Lindley, as well as most writers since, have ren- 

 dered these classes, with sub-classes or divisions, founded mainly on 

 the structure of the leaves, but we have preferred in this fruit, as 

 well as others, to embody the distinction in the text descriptive of a 

 variety, and confine ourself to the practical every-day wanted divi^ 

 sion of " best," " very good," and " good." The word " Melocoton," 

 only meaning " peach," we have dropped, and only use it in connec- 

 tion with the synonyms. 



•fTsev. — The various uses made of the peach are so well known as 

 not to require a word, yet the profit to be obtained from drying or 

 preserving fresh, the fruit, when distant from market, induces us to 

 make the following descriptions. In most parts of the countiy where 

 peaches are largely cultivated, the fruit is dried, and in this state sent 

 to market in very large quantities. The drying is performed on a 

 small scale, in spent ovens ; on a large scale, in a small di-ying house 

 heated by a stove, and fitted up with ventilated drawers. These 

 drav.ers, the bottoms of which are formed of kiths, or narrow strips 

 sufficiently open to allow the air to circulate through them, are filled 

 with peaches in halves. They are cut in two without being peeled, 

 the ^tone taken out, and the two halves placed in a single layer with 



