190 Peach-growing at Montr euil. 



out abore into a trifid flourish on each side of the crown. It is a 

 finer object than the Napoleon, and bore a splendid crop. 



The sketch gives but a very poor idea of the beauty of the tree, 

 which I by no means figure here by way of recommending it or 

 like curious forms, but simply to show the mastery attained over 

 the trees. Such a fanciful form is interesting in a great peach 

 garden, where the grower wishes to show his skill, but is useless for 

 private gardens or for general purposes. It should be added that 

 the formation of the LEPERE was much easier than that of the 

 NAPOLEON tree, inasmuch as a plant is devoted to every letter in 

 the former. 



The walls for the greater part run east and west ; the soil is of a 

 calcareous nature, and generally the long strips enclosed by the 

 walls are about fourteen yards across. The syringe is rarely or never 

 used, sulphur being the remedy for spider. The ground was in all 

 cases mulched near the trees, a wide alley being left ; and for pre- 

 paration of border they simply trench and manure the ground a 

 couple of feet deep, and about six feet wide. They lay in a good 

 many more shoots than we do, and are doubtless enabled to do so 

 in consequence of the greater amount of sun. The trees are pruned 

 on tlie spur system, and as for their shapes, they are many, in addi- 

 tion to the alphabetical ones aUuded to above. The Taille en can- 

 delabre is one of the handsomest and most useful. To form it, two 

 branches are taken to the right and left along near the bottom of 

 the wall. From the uppermost single shoots are taken at regular 

 intervals to the top of the wall — the lower branch simply running 

 along to the end, and rising to the top of the wall, or in other 

 words, forming a great oblong frame for the interior. Then there 

 is the Taille a la Montreuil, a sort of fan-tail, but with the divisions 

 somewhat far from the base in most cases, and several modifications 

 of the common horizontal mode of training, which we employ so 

 much for the pear, but never for the peach. These seem favourite 

 varieties, and by their means the walls are perfectly covered — if 

 indeed one can draw any distinction between the walls here, which 

 are all as fresh looking as a meado\^- in May. Generally the tree 



