FRUITS. VARIETIES AND CULTURE. 377 



is the most tenacious of life of any tree we have ever met 

 with ; twenty-seven years since we dug one up in our gar- 

 den, and annually up to the present time shoots put up 

 from fragments left in the ground, and thus far we have 

 been unable to exterminate it. If the cherry is planted 

 near the house, and the Mulberry a little more distant, 

 the latter will often attract the birds from it. 



Downing's Everbearing was originated by Charles 

 Downing, of Newburgh, 1ST. Y., from the seed QfMorus mul- 

 ticaidis. Tree very vigorous and productive ; an estimable 

 variety, and surpassed by none except the black English, 

 and possessing the same rich, sub-acid flavor. It continues 

 in bearing a long time. Fruit one and a quarter inch 

 long, and nearly a half inch in diameter. Color maroon, 

 or intense blue-black at full maturity ; flesh juicy, rich, 

 and sugary, with a sprightly vinous flavor. 



NECTARINE. (Amygdalus Persica, vcvr. Icevis.) 



The Nectarine is merely a peach with a smooth skin ; it 

 is impossible to distinguish the tree from the peach by its 

 leaf and flowers. 



Nectarines usually produce nectarines from the seed ; 

 but the Boston Nectarine originated from a peach stone. 



The tree is cultivated and pruned like the peach, and is 

 propagated by grafting or budding on peach stocks. The 

 great difficulty in raising Nectarines (and the same is 

 true of the apricot and plum), is the curculio. The smooth 

 skin of these fruits offers an inviting place for this insect to 

 deposit its eggs. The injured fruit may be known by be- 

 ing marked with a small, semicircular scar, as if cut by a 

 baby's nail. 



It is useless to plant either the Nectarine, Apricot, or 



