54 



definition of being clayey, and fulfils the conditions of an 

 open mellow loam, the clods of which break in your hand 

 to fragments like meal, so will it benefit the noble peach. 



However, something may be done to humour the peach 

 in the matter of soil. If one must work in heavy clayey 

 land, because of lack of other choice, then after effort at 

 improvement by liming to flocculate the clay, and addition 

 of strawy manure to open it into air pores, the plum stock 

 may be grown for grafting on. There is one disadvantage 

 however ; most plum stocks sucker very much under the 

 peach and give a vast amount of trouble. Of late years 

 the myrobolan or cherry plum has been used and answers 

 well, being free from this objectionable habit. But 

 wherever the main conditions we have insisted on are 

 reasonably fulfilled, the peach or self-stock is to be pre- 

 ferred. There can be none better than the great yellow 

 St. Helena peach for most localities. But in this widely 

 varied land, where our working altitudes range from sen 

 level to 5,000 feet, the grower must not go by book only. 

 He must look around and observe for himself which seed- 

 ling peaches in his neighbourhood are hardiest and finest, 

 and choose these for his stocks. When the ground is stony, 

 shaly and dry, the sweet almond may be used. But in 

 that case a little skill is requisite, something beyond the 

 rough cleft made in the stump and the scion wedged into 

 the split. It is astonishing that such rude work ever suc- 

 ceeds. We believe that given a suitable dryish soil and 

 careful whip or tongue grafting it is very little we should 

 ever hear of the standing complaint against these stocks, 

 that is, of young trees blowing loose from their almond 

 mother-stock. 



Twenty feet is outside measure for the peach distance. 

 Some modern growers give more, but this is rather in 

 obedience to a general consensus of opinion that the old 

 crowding system must be discouraged and discontinued. 

 Thanks to the enterprise of a few of our nurserymen, very 

 excellent yearlings may be had, either self-stocks or myro- 

 bolan. Do not fancy you are getting more for your money 

 by buying two year olds. The peach is in such a hurry to 

 get along and make growth, that you are likely to have a 



