THE ROSE, POME, AND DRUPE FAMILY. 459 



fleshed. Peaches and Nectarines are propagated by either 

 budding or grafting. 



Stocks. There are a variety of these upon which the Peach 

 succeeds with more or less success ; the best, however, being 

 the hard-shelled Sweet Almond, Damson Plum, Muscle and 

 Pear Plum, all of which can easily be raised from seed or layers. 

 Some use the Myrobalan; but it is not sufficiently permanent, 

 and the trees do not succeed well after the first few years. The 

 Almond stock is hardy and a robust grower, and succeeds well 

 on some warm dry soils. Seedling Peaches do not form good 

 permanent stocks in this country, although much used in 

 America. Double grafting or budding is often practised with 

 success. It is a little curious to notice the great difference of 

 opinion which exists in different nurseries as to the best stocks 

 for nearly all fruit-trees ; and it is now well known that different 

 stocks are each best suited to different soils. The question of 

 stocks on which to work our finest varieties of hardy or tender 

 fruits is such an important one, that we should like to see 

 collections of all known plants used for fruit-tree stocks got 

 together and tried side by side in different soils and situa- 

 tions. A series of experiments thus intelligently conducted 

 would clear up many doubts and throw much additional light 

 on this interesting subject, which is one of the utmost prac- 

 tical importance to the professional gardener and fruit-grower 

 for market. What are known as French Peaches, such as 

 Bourdine, Double Montagne, Belle Chevreuse, and others, 

 will only succeed on the Pear Plum as a stock. Other var- 

 ieties prefer the Muscle Plum, while the Brompton stock 

 suits nearly all varieties equally well ; but the trees on this 

 last, although at first vigorous and healthy, are invariably 

 short-lived, according to Lindley, who also remarks that the 

 Lemon is a better stock for the Orange than its own varieties, 

 and it is now well known that Citrus japonica, or Kumquat 

 Orange of Chinese and Japanese gardens, will not fruit in cul- 

 tivation unless grafted on Limonia trifoliata as a stock. In 

 the ' Trans. Hort. Soc.', v. 289, Mr T. A. Knight records a 

 curious fact, showing the influence of the stock on the size, 

 colour, and flavour of the Peach " Acton Scott," one of which 

 was growing on a seedling Peach or free stock, and the other 

 on a Plum stock. That growing on the Plum bore larger and 

 more highly-coloured fruits ; but its flesh was so coarse and 

 inferior, that he would have denied the identity of the variety 

 had he not budded both the stocks himself from the same tree. 

 Facts like these are useless, however, unless the cultivator takes 

 advantage of them to observe carefully on what stocks his 



