118 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



1871 



and in this he has been followed by various authors. 

 In short it must be admitted that all grades of va- 

 rieties exist — and pass by small transitions — from 

 the tough skinned peach more like an almond, 

 through cling stones of poor quality, to our best 

 and most melting kinds. The nectarine is nothing 

 but a smooth peach. Yet most of the varieties lioth 

 of the peach and nectarine reproduce themselves 

 truly by seed, this has been verified to the eighth 

 race of the peach. So with the sub-varieties of our 

 white blossom, several of the yellow fruited free 

 stone peaches, the Blood cling stone, the Heath, and 

 the Lemon cling stone. On the other hand a cling 

 stone peach has given rise to a free stone. 



In the Transact. Hort. Soc, vol. vi, page 294 — It 

 is asserted that the Boston nectarine was produced 

 from a peach stone, and this nectarine reproduced 

 itself by seed. (Downing's Fruit Trees, page 503.) 

 Mr. Rivers states (Gardner's Chronicle, 1863, page 

 1195,) that from stones of three distinct varieties of 

 the peach, he raised three varieties of necta- 

 rines, and In one of these cases no nectarine grew 

 near the parent peach tree. Of nectarine stones 

 yielding peach trees (both free and cling stones,) 

 six undoubted instances are recorded by Mr. Rivers, 

 and in two of these instances the parent nectarines 

 had been seedlings from other nectarines. With 

 respect to the more curious case of full grown 

 peach trees suddenly producing nectarines by bud 

 variation (or sports as they are called by gardeners,) 

 the evidence is superabundant. There is also good 

 evidence of the .same tree producing both peaches 

 and nectarines, or half and half fruit-— that is one 

 half of the fruit a perfect peach, and the other half 

 a perfect nectarine. Prof Chapman states that he 

 has often seen in Virginia, very old ])eaeh trees 

 bearing nectarines. Thus, I simply refer to a few 

 of the many ficts given that are hard nuts to crack 

 for those who consider the almond, peach, and nec- 

 tarine as distinct genera, as I and many more like 

 me would naturally conclude was the case. About 

 apricots, plums, and cherries many interesting fiicts 

 are also given, which I will not review. The sub- 

 ject in reference to the apple (Pyni.i Mthis) of 

 which he says, " The one source of doubt felt by 

 botanists with resjicct to the parent age of the ap- 

 ple is whether, besides P. Mitlns, two or three other 

 closely allied wild forms, namely, P. Acerha, and 

 Prcu'cox or Panididaca, do not deserve to be ranked 

 as distinct species. The P. Praecox is supposed by 

 some authors to be the parent of tlie dwarf jiara- 

 dise stock, which, owing to the fibrous roots not 

 penetrating deeply into tlie ground, it is so largely 

 used for grafting ; but the paradi.se stock it is asser- 

 ted cannot be propagated true by seed. The com- 

 mon wild crab varies considerably in England;" 

 (so do our native crabs, wild species, with some of 

 the leaves irregularly cut-toothed, or even lobed 



like, the P. Coronaria, a most beautiful flowering 

 small tree, very fragrant, and truly ornamental, as 

 also the narrow leafed crab, P. Avgustifolia.) "Ev- ; 

 ery one knows the great diflerence in the manner j 

 of growth in the foliage, flowers, and especially in 

 the fruit, between the almost innumerable varieties of 

 the apple. The pips or seeds difl'er considerably in 

 shape, size and color. The various adaptation for 

 eating, cooking and keeping is referred to, the 

 bloom like that on plums, which especially occurs 

 among those cultivated in Russia. The White As- 

 trachan of Russia possesses the singular property 

 of becomeng transparent, when ripe, like some 

 sorts of crabs." 



The Apt Etoile has five prominent ridges, hence 

 its name ; the Api Noir is nearly black ; the Tmn 

 Clxsttr pippin often bears fruit joined in pairs. 

 Here I will refer to a colored drawing now before 

 me, made of a cluster of ten full sized apples, much 

 like a bunch of grapes, in close proximity, — grown 

 on a tree belonging to Henry K. Denham, four 

 miles west of Lancaster, Pa., and brought to me by 

 Mr. Jacob Rotharmel, September 15, 1862. I ques- 

 tion whether this feat has ever been surpas.sed in 

 the pomoiogical line for size, beauty, and perfec- 

 tion of fruit, so prolific and crowded that it would 

 seem impossible for them to mature, as they cer- 

 tainly did, and hang on while being handled freely. 

 Among other things I find the following, (liaving 

 to skip some matters about the cross between the 

 Golden Hervy and the Siberian Crab,) respecting 

 the famous St. Valery apple. The flower has a 

 double calyx with ten divisions, and fourteen styles 

 surmounted by conspicuous oblique stigmas, but is 

 destitute of stamens or corola. The fruit is con- 

 stricted round the middle, and is formed by five 

 seed cells, surmounted by nine other cells. Not 

 being provided with stamens, the tree requires ar- 

 tificial fertilization ; and the girls of St. Valery an- 

 nually go to "fairie ses pomTnes" each marking her 

 own fruit with a ribbon, and as different pollen is 

 used the fruit diflcrs, and we here have an instance of 

 the direct action of foreign pollen on the mother 

 plant. These monstrous apples include, as we have 

 seen, fourteen seed cells ; the pigeon apple, on the 

 other hand, has only four, instead of as with other 

 apples, five cells; and this certainly is a remarkable 

 diflerence. It is found that in lots of seedlings 

 raised from certain kinds, many worthless, crab- 

 like seedlings will appear. Yet It is a mistake to 

 suppose that with most varieties the characters are 

 not to a certain extent inherited. 



The foregoing may seem highly questionable to 

 many of your readers. I confess my study as a bot- 

 anist in classifying plants by the rules laid down in 

 the books inits me into deep water. When I get in 

 among the hybrids and crosses of the ornamental 

 flowers and cultivated fruits, I am "out at sea," 



