256: THE. PEACH AND NECTAKINE. 



peaches in pots in a nortK pit oi honse, and to introduce them into a> 

 common orchard house late in the season, and thus extend the peach, 

 season into NoTember. 



The trees may be shifted into larger pots during the winter if they 

 require it ; if they do not, as much as possible of the exhausted soil 

 should be removed from the sides of the ball, the drainage examined and 

 renewed if necessary, and fresh soil of the same quality as before em- 

 ployed to make good the deficiency ; the new soil must be made very 

 firm, BO as to unite with the old. The trees should also be pruned into, 

 shape and dressed as already described, if they have been infested 

 with aphides or other insects. If, however, the wood has been carefully 

 chosen and stopped during the summer, peach trees in pots need bat little 

 winter pruning. 



VIIL— Forcing. 



The peach cannot be hurried with safety during its earlier stages. It. 

 resents a higher temperature than SSdeg. until, its blossom buds are. 

 set. A temperature lOdeg. less than this, or 45deg., is perhaps that best 

 adapted for the free setting of the peach. The penalty paid for any excess, 

 of warmth during the. earlier stages of forcing is the shedding of the. 

 blossom and the starting of the wood buds in advance of the fruit 

 blossoms. Possibly, these last symptoms explain, the falling of the. 

 blossom. It seems almost as if the first set of buds that attract the 

 sap kept it solely for themselves for a time. It is certain that when, 

 the blussoms open and set freely the wood buds seem to stand stUl. 

 until this work is well-nigh completed ; whereas, when the latter start. 

 first, the blossom buds fall in showers. It also requires more heat to- 

 start the wood bads than the flower buds, hence the vital importance of a. 

 low temperature till the blossoms of peaches and nectarines are set. 



This necessity is a great trial to the ardent forcer, but it is surely 

 better to lose time than to. lose a crop, and it is wise to begin with the 

 full conviction that six months are needed to carry peaches in safety from, 

 the. start' to the finish. It cannot.be done in less time without the 

 certain risk of failure. Of course, the later in the season peaches are- 

 forced the less the time needful to ripen them. Hence, peaches started 

 in Januaiy may be ripened, perhaps, by the end of June, while those 

 started on the first of November can hardly be ripe till the first of May» 

 For not only is- the peach impatient of heat during its first stages of, 

 growth, but afterwards. Eight up to the stoning period any artificial, 

 heat beyond §5deg, or SOdcjg. is dangerous. All cultivators have learned. 



