THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



25 



Nectarines, as we have mentioned before, seem to be especially plenti- 

 ful in this region: ' "In the market (Vierny) we also bought grapes, and, 

 still better, small but luscious nectarines, the latter for a halfpenny each, 

 of which, as I sat over my writing at night, I ate so many as to alarm 

 Mr. Sevier, whose medical instincts led him to fear for the consequences. 

 All went well, however, and I never stinted myself from that time onward 

 from Central Asian fruit, and I am thankful to say was not once 

 inconvenienced thereby." 



As throwing light on the wild fruits of this region, we have Lansdell's 

 statement that there are whole forests of almond trees and many species 

 of cherries, plums, apples, pears and apricots, but wild peaches are not 

 mentioned. - 



On another page we are told that peaches in Bokhara are of three 

 varieties, red, white and green, and in a foot-note that they are grown as 

 follows:^ " When sown, the stone is put in the earth two fingers deep, 

 before the frosts set in; water is then let in and allowed to freeze; after that, 

 earth is put over it and left till the following spring, when the young shoots 

 are transplanted at intervals of four paces. The best peaches are said 

 to come from Samarkand." 



One is tempted to enlarge upon fruit-possibilities in these west-Asiatic 

 valleys. Without much strain upon the imagination it is easy to conjure 

 up visions of great fruit-industries in west Asia rivaling those of our own 

 Pacific Coast when communications with European markets are opened 

 'and if the people now there or those who may migrate there begin to make 

 use of their opportunities and to take advantage of the best that art and 

 science now offer horticulture. In the event of such a development, 

 peaches, fresh and dried, will not be the least of the products of the region. 



THE PEACH IN EUROPE 



One finds treasures of experience and inspiration for narrative in the 

 history- of the peach in Europe. But to present a systematic record of 

 the peach as it traveled from country to country after its introduction into 

 ancient Greece would require a volume and a long one, which, interest- 

 ing and profitable as it might be, could hardly be justified in this work. 

 Present purposes are best served by attempting only to point out the 

 landmarks in the history and development of the peach from the time it 



' Lansdell, Henry Russian Central Asia i:2-y. 

 ' Ibid. 1:608. 1885. 

 'Ibid. 2:83. 1885. 



