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On Peach Trees. 



Head December 8th, 1807. 



Belmont^ November llth^ 1807. 

 Sir^ 



I wished to have all the intelligence on the subject 

 of the peach tree fully communicated to the society; 

 and, for that purpose, I wrote to some friends, who had 

 it in their power to assist my views. I send a letter 

 from Dr. Tilton^ vA\o adds to professional talents, much 

 information upon horticulture, and rural affairs. I am 

 obliged by the Doctor's ready and useful compliance 

 with my request. I had suggested to him a conjec- 

 ture, that this tree has a predilection for some favourite 

 climate and temperature, in which it thrives as an indi- 

 genous plant. I thought that like cotton, indigo, rice, and 

 trees, and shrubs of various kinds, the peach was natural 

 in some regions of our country, and forced in others. — 

 Although the Doctor does not seem thoroughly of that 

 opinion, he gives an instance of the early peach, which 

 came to maturity in Northampton in the eastern shore 

 of Virginia, in June ; and did not ripen at Wilmington 

 in Delaware, till September. This would seem to con- 

 firm my idea, that this tree delights and thrives best, in 

 a climate more southerly and temperate than ours: 

 and I endeavoured to find out a line of demarcation. It 

 is one thing to cultivate, under forbidding circumstan- 

 ces, for pleasure and curiosity ; and another, to apply 

 our labours and resources to extensive, appropriate, and 

 profitable products. Whatever be the causes of failure, 

 this tree requires, in this quarter, more care and atten- 



