20-1 



HORTICULTURE. 



i'ruit 

 Garden. 



not exceed five feet in height ; and that while the blos- 

 som is exposed to danger from frost, mats should be 

 thrown over them, so secured as to descend on each 

 side nearly in the angle of an ordinary roof of a house. 



On account of the usual mode of training and prun- 

 ing peach-trees in this country, they do not occupy 

 much space on the wall. Some of the old horticultural 

 writers speak of twelve or fourteen feet as enough : 

 but the trees are now permitted to spread wider, from 

 fifteen to twenty feet being allotted to each tree. Near 

 Paris, a single peach-tree may sometimes be seen co- 

 vering sixty feet of wall. It is at Montreuil that 

 peaches are cultivated in perfection, peach-gardens be- 

 ing here established for the supply of the capital. Ma- 

 king due allowance for the difference of climate, advan- 

 tages might probably be derived from copying some of 

 the practices of these French cultivators, whose whole 

 attention is devoted to the management of peach-trees. 

 In 181-t, Mr John Mozard, who was bred under the 

 famous gardener Pepin, and is himself one of the prin- 

 cipal proprietors of peach-gardens at Montreuil, pub 

 lished a little piece, entitled, " Principes pratiques sur 

 Feducation, la culture, la laille, el I'cboiirgeoimement des 

 arbres fruitier s, et principalement du pecker,'' which is 

 well deserving the attention of horticulturists in this 

 country. 



Nectarine. 



Nectarine. 93. The Nectarine, as already observed, is merely a 

 variety of the peach. The English name may be sup- 

 posed to be derived from the nectareous flavour of the 

 fruit. The skin is smooth, not downy as in the peach ; 

 and the flesh is rather more plump than in that fruit. 

 Nectarines, like peaches, are either free-stones or cling- 

 stones ; the former are called by the French Pcches 

 lisses, smooth peaches; the latter, Brugnons. Miller 

 enumerates ten varieties : 



Fruit 

 Garden. 



Fairchild's Early. 

 Elruge. 

 Newington. 

 Scarlet. 

 5. Brugnon or Italian. 



Red Roman. 

 Murrey. 

 Golden. 

 Temple's. 

 10. Peterborough. 



Of these the following are in most esteem. 



The Elruge, a middle-sized fruit ; when ripe, of a 

 dark red or purple next the sun, pale towards the wall ; 

 ready in the middle of August : the tree grows freely, 

 and is a sure bearer ; indeed it is perhaps the best 

 nectarine for the open air, especially in the less favour- 

 ed counties. 



The Newington nectarine is rather a large fruit ; of a 

 beautiful red next the sun, and, on the other side, of a 

 bright yellow ; flesh melting; juice very rich, racy and 

 high-flavoured ; a clingstone, not ripening before Sep- 

 tember : the tree a good bearer, when in a favourable 

 situation. 



The Red Roman nectarine is a large fruit ; deep red 

 or purple next the sun, and yellowish on the other side; 

 flesh firm and of excellent flavour ; when quite ripe, it 

 shrivels ; a clingstone, not ready before the middle of 

 September. 



The Murrey (i. e. murrey-coloured) is a middle- 

 sized fruit, of a dirty red colour next the sun; the pulp 

 pretty well flavoured ; ripens from the beginning to the 

 middle of September. 



Temple's nectarine is a middle-sized fruit, of a light 

 red next the sun, and yellowish-green on the other side; 

 pulp melting, with a fine poignant flavour ; the skin 



shrivelling when the fruit is perfectly ripe, which sel- 

 dom happens before the end of September : the tree 

 grows freely, and is generally productive. ~V" 



To these may be added the Early Violet nectarine, of 

 middle size, violet purple next the sun, pale yellow on 

 the other side ; flesh sugary, juice with a vinous fla- 

 vour ; a clingstone, ripening in the beginning of Sep. 

 tember : the blossom is very small, but the tree very 

 productive ; it requires a good situation, and succeeds 

 only in warm seasons. 



The production of a new and early nectarine, suited 

 to the climate of Britain, may be considered as one of 

 the desiderata in our horticulture. It may here be 

 mentioned, that a new variety of white nectarine is de- 

 scribed by recent French writers as being remarkably 

 early and of excellent flavour ; the foliage of the tree 

 is of a pale or whitish green ; it was raised by Mr 

 Noisette, a nurseryman at Brunoy. 



The management of the nectarine-tree is in every re- 

 spect the same as that of the peach. In this country, 

 nectarines require the best exposure in the garden; 

 and to the northward of Yorkshire, they seldom acquire 

 maturity without the aid of a flued wall and artificial 

 heat. 



Almond. 



94. The Almond-tree, (Amygdalus commttnis, L.) Almotul 

 can scarcely be ranked as an effective fruit-tree in this 

 country. In clumps of shrubs on the lawn, it makes a 

 fine appearance in early spring, when covered with its 

 beautiful blossoms. In good seasons, such standards 

 produce some ripe fruit : but ornament is its principal 

 recommendation ; and if the fruit be no object, the 

 double-flowered variety is preferable. Trained against 

 a wall, the almond-tree perfects its fruit in our ordinary 

 seasons, when the outer cover opens naturally to give 

 out the stone containing the kernel. They are very 

 sweet and fit for the table when green, and they are 

 sometimes kept in sand till winter. 



In France, the almond tree is much cultivated. Bas- 

 tien enumerates nine varieties; among which is an 

 amandier packer, or peach-almond tree, supposed to 

 have been derived from an impregnation of the almond 

 by the pollen of the peach. On the same tree, he tells 

 us, two sorts of fruit occur ; the one round, fleshy, and 

 divided by a furrow like the peach ; the other oblong, 

 not fleshy, and resembling the common almond. 



'The kinds of almond chiefly cultivated for their fruit 

 are, 



The common sweet almond ; 



Tender shelled ; 



Hard shelled ; 



Sweet Jordan ; and 



Bitter almond. 



These different varieties are propagated by budding 

 on plum or peach stocks, or on almond stocks raised from 

 the stones ; plum stocks being preferred for strong and 

 moist soils, and peach or almond stocks for such as are 

 light and dry. In this country it often happens that 

 the varieties are little attended to. Almond trees are 

 raised from the stones, and of course are liable to spurt, 

 as gardeners speak. It may be remarked, that even 

 when they are raised from the stones, budding or 

 working of one new variety upon another, is extreme- 

 ly useful in hastening the production of fruit. 



The general management in regard to pruning, &e. 

 is similar to that of the peach tree, only that the bear- 

 ing twigs are often left six inches long without being 

 nailed to the wall. 



