CHAPTER XI 

 THE PEACH AND NECTARINE UNDER GLASS 



By OWEN THOMAS 



Of all British-grown fruits few, if any, are more esteemed than the peach 

 and the nectarine. 



History. — The peach boasts of a very ancient and interesting history. 

 Although the country to which it is indigenous is not known for certain, 

 it is generally believed to be a native of Persia. The peach tree is sup- 

 posed not to have been cultivated in England before the year 1562, but by 

 whom and whence it was first introduced we have no authentic record. 

 Gerarde, in 1597, describes the white peach, the red peach, and the yellow 

 peach, adding, " I have them all in my garden, with many other sorts." From 

 this account, and finding it in the list of fruits published in the year 1557 

 by Thomas Tusser, who mentions peaches white and red, there can be little 

 doubt that it was introduced into England as early as the reign of Henry VIII., 

 and probably from Italy, by Wolf, the king's gardener, in the year 1 524, as at this 

 time we find he brought the apricot from that country. Whichever country 

 may be the native home of the peach, and whoever may have had the honour 

 of introducing it into England, are points involved in considerable mystery, 

 and we pass from the historical part of our work to the more practical. 



I propose to divide the subject of the cultivation of the peach into two parts : 

 first, under glass (the trees planted out) ; and, second, on walls out-of-doors. 



The House. — The first thing to consider is the house in which the 

 peach trees are to be grown, and the most favourable position in the garden 

 which can be given to it. The size of the structure must be regulated 

 by the supplies required. The house that I would recommend for forcing 

 the earliest crops is a three-quarter span-roofed one. This form of house 

 admits of hearly as much light as a span-roofed house does, and is more easily 

 kept warm in winter by reason of the high back wall. It is important that the 

 roof of the house should have a steep pitch, at about an angle of 45 degs. Flat- 

 pitched roofs are to be avoided. Good peaches I know have been and are 

 grown in flat-roofed houses, but certainly better crops and finer fruit can be grown 

 with greater ease and certainty in steeply pitched ones. Two methods of fixing 

 the trellis (upon which the trees are trained) are practised. One way is to fix 

 the trellis at a uniform distance of 2 feet below the roof. By this method all the 

 roof is utilised for the production of fruit, which is fully exposed to the sun and 

 light all day. The other plan, favoured by many, is the drum trellis, reaching 

 half-way up the roof. In this case the trees are planted against the back 



