January 



1897. 



Garden and Forest. 



13 



which evidently has considerable Persian blood, judging from 

 the color of the young wood, which is reddish, the naked 

 places on the bearing wood and the corrugations on the pit and 

 its general shape ; limbs large, long and spreading ; branches 

 low and drooping ; flowers nearly always large; leaves small 

 and flat, persisting late in fall and turning slightly yellow ; 

 fruit very decided in character, ripening very late, nearly 

 always yellowish when mature, and covered with heavy down ; 

 in the Indian type the fruit is striped with red ; a heavy bearer 

 and sure cropper in its proper isotherm. Seems to have come 

 from the Indian type brought over from Spain by the Spanish 

 missionaries and distributed among the Indians of the extreme 

 southern states. Perhaps it is owing to successive seedlings 

 in more favorable climate that the type is now varying. All 

 over the southern states one hears the expression that seed- 

 lings are surer bearers than budded trees, and there seems to 

 be some truth in this belief, because by growing seedlings 

 continuously varieties may adapt themselves to climate. This 

 type is adapted to isothermal lines north of where the South 

 China race flourishes. 



IV. North China Race.— The original Chinese Cling, which 

 is a dwarf tree near the coast, is the parent of this race. It 

 is not at all adapted to regions along the Gulf. Two or 

 three hundred miles farther north it and its seedlings do well. 

 It is the parent of the largest peaches in the United States ; 

 blooms later than the Persian, and the flowers are nearly 

 always large; foliage large and flat, turning toward autumn 

 in the southern states to a peculiar pea-green, and this type 

 among others in an orchard can be detected with ease by 

 this means alone. The color of the foliage foreshows the color 

 of fruit, as none of the seedlings, as a rule, are highly colored. 

 The parent came from China, and it is adapted to zones farther 

 north than those suited to the Spanish. 



5. — Peach Pits. — See page 12. 



Peen-to. 2. South Chinese (Honey). 



4. North China (Chinese Cling variety). 



3. Spanish or Indian (six varieties). 

 Persian (Old Mixon Free variety). 



V. Persian Race. — Tree medium size to large ; limbs short 

 and thick, with long naked places ; bark usually rich purplish 

 red on young wood ; flowers large or small in different varie- 

 ties ; foliage crimpled and conduplicale, with purplish tinge 

 before falling, which happens early. This race requires a long 

 period of rest, which indicates that it has had a more northern 

 origin than any other, supposed to have been Persian. The 

 seedlings now form the bulk of northern Peach orchards. 

 Fruit usually the most highly colored and of the finest flavor. 

 In this race we sometimes find a variety with yellow flesh, but 

 the flavor is not as good as the others. It is almost useless 

 to plant this race in the southern part of the Gulf states. 



There are some ornamental varieties which will not be men- 

 tioned here. 



Experiment Station, College Station, Tex. -* v - *!• thrice. 



It is a mistake to suppose that the value of charming natural 

 scenery lies wholly in the inducement which the enjoyment of 

 it presents to a change of mental occupation, exercise and air- 

 taking. Besides and above this, it acts in a strictly remedial 

 way to enable men to resist the harmful influences of ordinary 

 town life and recover what they lose from them ; in short, to 

 establish sound minds in sound bodies. It is thus a sanative 

 and restoring agent of vital importance to the health and 

 strength and to the earning and taxpaying capacity of a large 

 city, and to the mass of the people it is practically available 

 only through such means as are provided by rural parks. 



Frederick Lazv Olmsted. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



Lectures on Horticulture. — The Royal Horticultural 

 Society continues to provide lectures for its bimonthly 

 meetings at the Drill Hall, and the bulk of them are a suc- 

 cess. Next year's programme contains some items of more 

 than usual interest, namely : '• Microscopic Gardening," by 

 Professor Marshall Ward, of Cambridge ; "Artificial Ma- 

 nures," by Mr. J. J. Willis ; " Diseases of Orchids," by Mr. 

 G. Massee, F. L.S., of Kevv ; "Physiology of Plants," by 

 Professor S. H. Vines, of Cambridge ; " Mutual Accommo- 

 dation between Plant Organs," by Professor G. Henslow ; 

 "Roots," by Professor F. W. Oliver, and "Sporting in 

 Chrysanthemums," by Professor Henslow. In addition to 

 these scientific lectures by eminent specialists, there will 

 also be lectures upon practical subjects by leading prac- 

 titioners. These lectures are all afterward published in the 

 society's journal. The great exhibition at the Temple is 

 announced for May 26th, 27th, 28th, and the exhibition of 

 fruit at the Crystal Palace for September 30th and October 

 1st and 2d. These exhibitions have become an important 

 annual institution in London. 



Horticultural Exhibition Hall. — Since the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society left South Kensington, horticulture has 

 been without a suitable exhibition hall in a central position 

 in London. An attempt was made two or three years ago 

 to raise a sufficient sum to build a hall and offices for the 

 society, but from some cause or other this proved abortive. 

 It is now proposed that, in commemoration of the 

 Queen's long reign, next year a Victoria Palace or 

 Queen's Hall for Horticulture should be built in 

 London, Mr. J. L. Wood, a professional horticul- 

 turist, having drawn up an elaborate scheme, the 

 plans of which are published in the gardening 

 papers, and which might, perhaps, provide all 

 that is needed. This scheme is, however, a very 

 costly one, and it is questionable if the money 

 would be forthcoming for it. There is no better 

 plan before the public than the proposed amalga- 

 mation of the Royal Horticultural and the Royal 

 Botanic societies. For this little or no money 

 would be required, and the needs of metropolitan 

 horticulture would be fully satisfied. 



Railway Rates for Garden Products. — English 

 growers hitherto have had good cause for com- 

 plaint against the excessive charges made by the 

 railway companies for the conveyance of their 

 products, compared with the charges made by the 

 same companies for the conveyance of foreign 

 products from port to market. The Great Western Railway 

 has set a good example by making considerable reductions 

 in their rates for agricultural, garden and dairy products 

 carried by their passenger and goods trains. They are also 

 willing to collect small quantities, under certain conditions, 

 and to charge for them in the aggregate as if they were one 

 consignment of from ten hundredweight, the minimum, up 

 to three tons, the maximum. Thus small growers in the 

 same neighborhood may, with little trouble, combine for the 

 purpose of marketing their products on favorable terms. 

 Hitherto the cost of sending a few bushels of apples a hun- 

 dred miles often exceeded what they would fetch in the 

 market. At the present time I have to pay six shillings for 

 a bushel of poor apples, fit only for cooking, and I am told 

 that there are plenty of growers in the country who would 

 be glad to get two-thirds of that price for good home- 

 grown fruit. 



Public Gardens and Open Spaces. — A joint committee 

 formed by the Commons Preservation Society, the Kyrle 

 Society, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Society and the 

 National Trust for places of historic interest, with a view 

 to commemorating the Queen's long reign, has drawn up 

 a scheme by which it is proposed that every locality should 

 dedicate a plot of ground to the use and enjoyment of the 

 people, and to be called a "Queen Victoria" garden, park, 



