36 CORDON TRAINING. 



perfection among fruit trees ; but each requires a 

 widely different treatment. The peach, coming 

 from a climate tropical in its summer heats, drier 

 at most seasons than ours, and yet subject to ex- 

 tremely severe frosts, when transplanted to Eng- 

 land is placed under very different conditions. 

 These arise chiefly from the want of sun-heat at 

 the necessary period ; but above all, from the 

 excessive moisture of spring and autumn. As 

 to our frosts, these are not often injurious to the 

 tree itself, but they affect the blossoms when 

 setting. Nevertheless, precautions can be used 

 / in out-door culture which somewhat obviate this 

 disadvantage ; yet it is difficult to know how to 

 ward off the drenching autumnal rains, which 

 ruin all hopes of ripe wood. It is here that cul- 

 tivation under glass is most valuable. 



It is no wonder, then, if the tree should have 

 been written about till the very name of peach 

 becomes odious to readers of horticultural sub- 

 jects ; and it is not a matter of surprise, if even 

 the, ancients blundered amusingly when they 

 wrote about this exotic. Thus we find Columella 

 making the funniest mistakes; and Pliny (the 

 Rivers of his day) setting him right, and re-esta- 

 blishing the fruit into popular favour. Neverthe- 

 less, even Pliny only knew of five varieties. By 

 the 16th century some forty kinds were known and 

 f described ; and, of these, the oldest and that most 

 j carefully depicted is the " Lucca peach," which is 



