254 THK PEACH ASD NECIAKINE. 



may be groTTn in, pots of the sizes specified without snoh adventitious aids 

 either above or below. Good , rich soil should be used for peaches in. 

 pots and under glass, such as that already recommended. G-ood 

 holding loam from an old pasture, mellowed for six months or so, and 

 mixed with a sixth part of well-rotted manure, a few inch bones, and some 

 charred refuse, is the best soil for the pot culture of the peach. Drain, 

 with smashed oyster shells or broken bones, covering the bottom of the 

 pots with an inch and a half or two inches of such matters. Then use 

 gome of the roughest of the loam, making all firm as the operation o^ 

 potting proceeds. It is also important to distribute the roots pretty 

 ec[ually through the mass of soil, and to pot the plants firmly, watering 

 them home immediately afterwards. 



The best season for potting is from the middle of October to the end 

 of ITovember. The roots are in a state of abnormal activity, and sooni 

 recover from, the disturbance and check incident to removal, and. 

 quickly re-establiah themselves in their new quarters. The trees shouli 

 be placed in the orchard house or other frost-proof quarters immediately- 

 after potting, or the pots may be plunged overhead and mulched in the 

 open air. In any case, it; is needful to take precautions against the roots. 

 being frozen through the sides of the pots. There is also great risk in 

 plunging the plants in the open air. The novelty of peaches in new 

 positions often attracts birds, which' peck off the fruit buds with 

 wonderful rapidity. For these and other reasons it is better to winter 

 pot peaches and nectarines under glass. While taking care ta exclude 

 severe frosts from the top, the roots must never be suffered to become too 

 dry. Dryness at the roots in winter is one of the chief causes of bud. 

 dropping in the spring and the fruit refusing to swell, or falling off at a 

 later period ; and as there is little danger of an excess of water in well- 

 drained pots, several good soakings may be given to the roots during- 

 the winter months. Unless during frosts or cold drying winds, the 

 orchard house, however, should be kept as cool as possible — the venti- 

 lators standing open night and day. In spring and summer the treatment 

 must correspond with that applied to pea6hes planted out under glass or 

 in the open air. Early disbudding,' careful thinning of the fruit, 

 the selection of the best placed and most suitable wood for suc- 

 ceeding that in fruit, the immediate destruction of all insects, the 

 guarding of the trees from sudden and severe changes of tem- 

 perature, especially through all their early stages of growth, overhead 

 sprinkling, and copious root -watering are the chief points to insure, 

 success.. 



In addition to these earlier requirements, a more liberal regimen 

 should be adopted during the last swelling and ripening of the peaoh.. 



