THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



499 



is mild and humid the covering is removed by 

 eight A.M., and replaced at half-past five in 

 the afternoon. From the thinness of the scrim 

 cloth very little more light is intercepted than 

 would be with indifferent glass. As the sea- 

 son advances the covering is removed earlier 

 in the morning, and often left off during the 

 night, by which means the foliage and young 

 wood become gradually hardened to stand 

 both the sunshine and night air without in- 

 jury- 

 Many complicated and expensive modes of 

 covering have been recorded; we find none, 

 however, answer our purpose better than the 

 above. The lightness of the canvass prevents it 

 injuring the trees when blown against them, and 

 as it is secured at bottom and ends, it is not dis- 

 placed by the wind. Protecting the ripe fruit 

 of the peach and nectarine is best effected by 

 using Haythom of Nottingham's hexagon gauze 

 netting, which should be fixed to the front of 

 the portable coping boarding, and secured to the 

 bottom of the wall in the same manner as the 

 canvass screens above referred to, and put on 

 just as the fruit begins to ripen, and kept on till 

 the crop is gathered. The best protection for 

 both ripe fruit and expanding blossom is un- 

 doubtedly glass : that material is now cheap, 

 and an economical way of applying it is, by 

 having a portable structure of rafters set against 

 the wall, and the spaces between filled with 

 glazed sashes, which, when not in use, may ad- 

 vantageously be employed covering forcing-pits 

 and protecting plants during winter. 



Glass screens can be constructed in a variety 

 of ways, and at no very extravagant expense. 

 Figs. 107 to 109, vol. i., exhibit one mode of 

 effecting this protection, fig. 479 another ; and 

 the narrow peach-houses, figs. 468 and 474, 

 show how such crops can be with certainty 

 secured even in the most unfavourable localities 

 in Britain. We apprehend, however, the day is 

 not far distant when, instead of building walls 

 of the ordinary construction, or orchard-houses 

 upon the scale recommended by Mr Kivers, 

 whole fruit gardens, from one quarter of an 

 acre to several acres in extent, will be covered 

 with glass, in which all our very finest fruits 

 may be ripened to the highest state of perfection, 

 and that vrithout the aid of artificial heat alto- 

 gether. Such structures should not be sur- 

 rounded by walls, on account of the shade which 

 south, east, and west walls produce, but should 

 be glass all round, or upon three sides at least, 

 extending to within from 6 to 9 inches of the 

 ground. The whole roof should be a fixture, 

 with the necessary ventilation at the apexes of 

 the ridges, and constructed on the ridge-and- 

 fuiTOw principle. The side sashes should be 

 movable, running on low wheels fitted to iron 

 rails, and made to pass each other, so that 

 ample ventilation may be secured, and means 

 afforded for taking in and out the trees. In no 

 case should structures of this kind exceed 15 

 feet in height. The trees should all be in a 

 portable state for the convenience of removing 

 the hardier kinds— such as the apple and the 

 pear — to a sheltered place during winter. The 

 roots being confined within slate boxes — made 



to take to pieces, for the convenience of exa- 

 mining into their state of health, as well as 

 for removing exhausted soil and the replace- 

 ment of fresh matter — will also be completely 

 under the control of the cultivator, and those 

 evils completely remedied which ever must 

 attend trees planted permanently in prepared 

 borders. Trees so grown must be retained 

 in the standard form, which is that most natu- 

 ral to them. 



Thinning the fruit. — The peach, when in a 

 healthy state, is apt to set more fruit than the 

 trees can bring to full perfection without serious 

 injury to themselves. Thinning should be per- 

 formed at three times ; first, when the fruit is 

 fully set, which it often does in clusters of 

 several close together, — these should be thinned 

 out with the point of a sharp knife when of the 

 size of ordinary-sized peas ; next, when the 

 fruit is about the size of a marble, at which time 

 all malformed and very small ones should be 

 taken off, leaving none in pairs, or on shoots 

 devoid of a leading ^ood-bud at their points ; 

 and lastly, when the stoning is completed, which 

 will be about the beginning or middle of July. 

 Indeed, this is the most important thinning, as 

 up to this time the crop is unsafe, and not uu- 

 frequently, from a variety of causes, the majority 

 of the fruit may drop off of their own accord. 

 So much depends on the state of the trees, and 

 also on the sort, that no general rule can be 

 safely laid down as to the distance the fruit 

 should stand apart from each other. From 6 to 

 8 inches may be given as pretty near the average 

 distance ; and where fine specimens are wished 

 for, and the varieties large, as in the case of the 

 Grosse mignonne, 10 inches will be a proper 

 distance. 



Principles in connection with the successful cul- 

 tivation of the peach as a wall tree in the general 

 climate of Britain. — First, and most important, 

 as we have elsewhere noticed, are shallow, well- 

 drained borders of properly prepared soil, and 

 shallow planting. To carry out these we would 

 advise, and that more especially in cold damp 

 soils and elevated situations, that the borders 

 be only from 18 inches to 2 feet in depth, rest- 

 ing on a foundation naturally dry, or artificially 

 made so ; that the soil be renewed at each 

 period of planting, and composed of the turfy 

 top-spit of good, strong, and rather adhesive 

 loam, of a mellow texture, and that without any 

 manure whatever. In such a soil the peach 

 luxuriates, and if planted shallow will long 

 continue healthy, and yield abundance of fruit. 

 On the other hand, deep rich soils are the 

 bane of the peach, the very nursery of disease, 

 and the foundation of premature decay ; and 

 these are aggravated when uncalled-for en- 

 richments are added, more especially towards 

 the end of summer. Light sandy soils are 

 equally uncongenial to this tree, and in such 

 it seldom attains age or sufficient stamina to 

 produce fine fruit, or remain exempt from disease 

 and the attacks of insects. Where shallow 

 borders and high planting are carried out, the 

 roots, being kept near the surface, are greatly 

 benefited by solar influences — indeed so much 

 so, as to be in a condition equivalent to several' 



