TREATISE 



ON 



FRUIT TREES 



PERSICA, 



PEACH TREE. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



[Translator's note: the term ligne, used frequently throughout this book, is a former 

 measurement of length equivalent to 1/12 of an inch; the toise is an old French measure, 

 approximately 1.949m, or 6.4 ft., roughly equivalent to a fathom.] 



I won't attempt to clarify what the ancients had written about Perscea, Persica, and 

 Persians, to establish whether or not they knew the tree that we call the peach tree, nor to 

 trace it with them from Ethiopia to Persia, from Persia into Egypt, from Egypt to 

 Mycenae, &c. & to record its history as described in some very obscure texts or through 

 traditions that are based only on these texts. 



Though the peach tree didn't originate in our country, it has successfully chosen 

 for its home a land where the only unfamiliar features were a permanently guaranteed 

 refuge, a favorable welcome, & getting the best treatment. It's so completely acclimatized 

 there 



