March 7, 1865. ] 



JOURNAti OF HOKTICTJLTTJRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



185 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



M'nth 



Day 

 of 



Week. 



MARCH 7-lS, 1865. 



Averape Temperature 

 near Loudon. 



Rain in 



last 

 28year8. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon Moon 

 Rises. Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day of 



Year. 









Day. 



NiKht. 



Mean. 



Dny.s. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 





m. s. 





7 



Tu 





49.5 



32.7 



41.1 



U 



34 af 6 



48af6 



9 1 



46 3 



10 



11 12 



66 



8 



W 



Ember Week. 



49.7 



31.7 



40.7 



14 



32 6 



50 5 



13 2 



21 i 



11 



10 57 



67 



9 



Tit 



Apricot and Poacb flower. 



49 9 



31.2 



40.4 



10 



30 6 



52 5 



16 3 



49 4 



12 



10 41 



68 



10 



F 



Prince of Walks Married, 1863. 



50.1 



31,7 



40.9 



14 



27 6 



54 5 



19 4 



14 5 



13 



10 26 



69 



11 



S 



Gooseberry foliates. 



49.-1 



32.0 



4'):7 



15 



25 6 



55 S 



22 5 , 37 5 



14 



10 10 



70 



12 



Sun 



2 Sunday in Lent. 



50.7 



32.3 



41.5 



19 



23 6 



57 .5 



25 6 1 6 



O 



9 53 



71 



13 



M 



Daffodil flowers. 



50.8 



31.2 



42.5 



14 



20 6 



59 5 



29 7 ' 21 6 



16 



9 37 



72 



From observations taken near London during the last tllirtv-eiEbt years, tlte average day temperature of tbe -week is 50.0° 



and its 



ni^ht 



temperature 



32.2'. The errateet heat was 67° on the lOih, 1326 ; 12th, 18« ; and 15th, 1328 ; and tbe lowest cold, 7', 



on the 10th, 1847. 



The 



greatest fal 



of rain was 0.C9 inch. 













THE MODEEN" PEACH-PEUNEE. 

 No. 5. 



ASPECTS AND SHELTERS. 



/'T^* !^ /^^^^^ ^^ proper aspect for tlie Peacli 

 /^Lr^' "SC *"5® ^'^ England should be as 



nearly due soutli as can be se- 

 cured. South-east rank.s next, 

 andafterthis south-west. Much, 

 however, depends on the lo- 

 cality of the garden and the 

 position of the nearest shelter from 

 high and cold currents of air. The 

 prevailing winds must be carefully 

 considered as to their effects on 

 vegetation, and the Peach wall re- 

 moved as much as possible from 

 their full force. In France, M. Du- 

 breuil recommended the south-east 

 as the very best aspect. At Mon- 

 treuil, where the sun's rays are 

 scorching in summer, an east or 

 west aspect is generally preferred. 

 In mid- France they place the late 

 varieties facing the south. The 

 early kinds and the bulk of the 

 ti'ees are assigned to the east walls ; 

 but none are placed on west walls 

 if it can be avoided. At MontreuU so powerful is even 

 the early sun that trees flourish which have no sun after 

 10 A.M. In such aspects, however, the trees make very 

 long shoots, and give extra trouble to the pruner. 



The proper height for a good Peach wall must be 

 regulated in some measure by the situation. Where the 

 ground is level and the aspect south the waU may be 

 the highest. Very splendid fruit can be grown even on 

 walls 6 feet high ; indeed, many are greatly in favour of 

 low walls as promoting free circulation of aii- in low and 

 confined situations. The Montreuil walls are only 8 or 

 9 feet high ; but then the form of training there admits 

 of no riders, and favours considerable lateral extension 

 of the branches. If low walls are adopted — that is, about 

 the height of those at Montreuil — about 20 feet horizon- 

 tally will be requisite fortheti-ees to develope themselves 

 laterally. If, on the contrary, the garden wall be 12 feet 

 higb, the trees may be planted at 1.5 feet intervals from 

 stem to stem, with riders placed midway between them 

 to cover the upper parts of the wall, which the dwarf- 

 trained trees below could not ascend to. In favourable 

 soil and climates the Peach tree, when doing well, will, 

 however, greatly exceed these limits, but there is nothing 

 gained by these immense trees. It must be borne in 

 mind that the modern methods of training the Peach do 

 not favour such- extension ; they rather favour the prac- 

 tice of having more trees iu the same space, by which plan 

 many advantages are gained, as will be seen presently. 



Of the utility of copings there is little doubt. These 

 should be fixed, and projecting not more than 3 or 

 4 inches, as more than this would shade the upper 

 No. 206.— Vol. VIII., New Series. 



branches by June, and intercept the dews and warm 

 summer showers. Besides these permanent ooj)ings iron 

 brackets should be fixed into the walls close under the 

 copings. These brackets should project outwards about 

 12 inclies. They should be of the shape of a triangle, 

 one side secured against the wall, and on the upper side 

 boards of inch-deal should be laid and screwed to the 

 brackets. When the fruit has set, these boards should 

 be removed and laid by till in many localities where the 

 rainfall is great the heavy rains of September neces- 

 sitate their being replaced. In southern districts this 

 may not be required. 



Eut the Peach requires other defences against the bad 

 weather in the shape of stout tifiany screens or protectors 

 reaching from the brackets to within 2 feet of the ground. 

 Lower is not needed for the safety of the blossoms. 

 These protectors should be used from February tOl the 

 fruit has faiily set, and they should be left off gradually. 

 Their object being to protect the young leaves, and espe- 

 cially to favour the sotting of the fruit, they should be 

 drawn up during the day, and let down only at night, or 

 during storms of wind and rain, or fogs. Great care is 

 needed not to stifle the growth of the tree. On the 

 utility and daily management of tiffany protectors I 

 quote from a letter from the Eev. W. F. Eadclyffe. To 

 show how situation affects temperature he says, " Being 

 in a valley close to the water the frosts are severe. After 

 black frosts cease, for eight or ten weeks hoar frosts 

 succeed. It would be hopeless to grow Peaches without 

 elBcient protection. Fir boughs and netting would here 

 be moonshine. I find the leaves even more tender than 

 the blossoms. In severe winters like this I keep on the 

 protectors, unless the weather is mild, by night and some- 

 times by day. Snow or sleet should never get into the 

 trees. The protectors are put on as soon as the fruit- 

 buds swell. They are let down at 4 p.m. and raised in 

 fine weather at 10 a.m. If the weather is bad they 

 remain on even for several days. They must be left off 

 gradually, as cold draughts are injurious." 



It remains only to mention that I have seen instances 

 where much injury was done to the trees by these pro- 

 tectors being placed too near to them, the wind hj im- 

 pinging directly on the surface of the protectors causing 

 them to beat sharply against the leaves and blossoms. 



It seems useless to expect a crop of Peaches, even in 

 favoured localities, without some such protection as the 

 above. Nor is the expense great, these protectors serv- 

 ing for several seasons, and the trouble is amply repaid. 

 During the hard frosts of winter the Peach tree may 

 suffer ; but the danger is not in reality great in ordinary 

 seasons provided the wood of the tree is ripe. The dif- 

 ference this makes in the welfare of the tree is very great, 

 nor is it surprising when we remember that the Peach is 

 a natire of Persia. Though the winter frosts of that 

 country are exceedingly severe, yet the Peach tree sur- 

 vives them simply because the fierce sun of the preceding 

 siunmer has most thoroughly ripened the young wood ; 

 it is rather the excess of autumn rainfall in England, 

 after a cloudy summer, which endangers the vitality of 

 No. 858.— Vol. XXXIII., Old Sbhieb. 



