THE CHERRY, PLUM, PRUNE, APRICOT, AND PEACH. 187 



bracts are left below the point, of insertion and the top is 

 only cut back partially until the bud is well started. 

 These buds start late, yet they make sufficient growth to 

 please nearly all planters the same season the pits are 

 planted. The same plan is taken with the apricot in 

 California as in summer budding ; with growth the next 

 season, the trees attain an unhandy size for orchard- 

 planting. 



In the prairie States the plum, prune, and apricot are 

 crown-grafted (86) more generally than in other parts. 

 By using a long scion and setting in nursery down to the 

 top bud of the scion, and later setting in orchard four 

 inches deeper, roots are secured from the scion, giving 

 practically trees on their own roots. These varieties, and 

 also the cherry, are often grown from root-cuttings (50) in 

 the West and North. 



187. The Nectarine. This fine fruit was once supposed 

 to be a good species, as it seems to have been an anciently 

 cultivated fruit. At the great commercial fair at Nishni 

 Novgorod we saw tons of the fruit in fresh and dried form 

 brought in by merchants from central Asia, and we were 

 told that this had been a commercial product since the 

 Fair was started, four hundred years ago. Regel says of 

 the nectarines of central Asia: "The smooth-skinned 

 nectarines of this region, among which are the smaller 

 yellow varieties, and very large red-cheeked ones, are of 

 unusually fine flavor and melting flesh; but they are 

 equalled by the nectarines of Samarcand. There are also 

 small, sweet, yellow kinds which stand half-way between 

 the rough-coated and smooth-coated peaches. These grow 

 in the exposed region of Vaendsh." 



It is now known that nectarines can be developed from 

 the peach by bud variation and peaches have been pro- 

 duced in the same way from the nectarine. 



