112 FRUIT FARMING 



profit; as when a crop is taken it may be general, 

 and prices consequently low. We have found the 

 large growing kinds, such as Dymond, Sea Eagle, 

 Thos. Rivers, Barrington, and Princess of Wales, the 

 best. Among Nectarines, Early Rivers, Cardinal, 

 Lord Napier, Dryden, and Elruge, white fleshed, and 

 Humboldt and Rivers' Orange, yellow fleshed, are 

 the best. The Orchard House system of culture gives 

 better results. Here with partial heat, or even without 

 it, good crops are taken, and when water is abundant 

 for syringing, they can be well grown. We would 

 prefer, however, to have both Peaches and Nectarines 

 trained flatly, 18 inches under the glass; and if 

 attention is paid to thinning the shoots and fruit, 

 wonderful examples are produced The best results 

 are obtained from trees planted out, and the marvellous 

 i8-oz. fruit grown at Bexley have astonished all 

 growers ; size and colour are two qualities to be 

 aimed at. Remember always to send Peaches to 

 market before they are fully ripe. (See Chapter on 

 Packing). As before alluded to, we are inclined to 

 think early Peaches might be grown on bushes in 

 favourable spots, in the open air; especially where 

 there is a mixture of chalk in the soil ; probably, if 

 for a few years trained to a sandstone bank or rock, 

 and then allowed to grow naturally, merely thinning 

 the boughs, a result might be obtained. The same 

 remarks apply to Apricots, but the Orange and Breda 

 only should be experimented on. Nothing is more 

 injurious to these Stone Fruits than high cultivation 

 in outside trees, as we generally get a wet time after 

 the first growth is completed, and they then make 

 fresh growth, which our short English summers prevent 



