338 



FRUITS. 



Chap. x. 



Andrew Knight, 23 from finding that a seedling-tree, raised from a sweet 

 almond fertilised by the pollen of a peach, yielded fruit quite like that 

 of a peach, suspected that the peach-tree is a modified almond; and 

 in this he has been followed by various authors. 24 A first-rate peach, 

 almost globular in shape, formed of soft and sweet pulp, surrounding a 

 hard, much furrowed, and slightly-flattened stone, certainly differs greatly 

 from an almond, with its soft, slightly furrowed, much flattened, and elon- 

 gated stone, protected by a tough, greenish layer of bitter flesh. Mr. 

 Bentham 25 has particularly called attention to the stone of the almond 

 being so much more flattened than that of the peach. But in the several 

 varieties of the almond, the stone differs greatly in the degree to which it 

 is compressed, in size, shape, strength, and in the depth of the furrows, 

 as may be seen in the accompanying drawings (Nbs. 4 to 8) of such kinds 

 as I have been able to collect. "With peach-stones also (Nos. 1 to 3) the 

 degree of compression and elongation is seen to vary ; so that the stone of 

 the Chinese Honey-peach (fig. 3) is much more elongated and compressed 

 than that of the (No. 8) Smyrna almond. Mr. Kivers of Sawbridgeworth, to 

 whom I am indebted for some of the specimens above figured, and who 

 has had such great horticultural experience, has called my attention to 

 several varieties which connect the almond and the peach. In France 

 there is a variety called the Peach-almond, which Mr. Rivers formerly 

 cultivated, and which is correctly described in a French catalogue as being 

 oval and swollen, with the aspect of a peach, including a hard stone 

 surrounded by a fleshy covering, which is sometimes eatable. 26 A re- 

 markable statement by M. Luizet has recently appeared in the ' Revue 

 Horticole/ 27 namely, that a Peach-almond, grafted on a peach, bore during 

 1863 and 1864 almonds alone, but in 1865 bore six peaches and no almonds. 

 M. Carriere, in commenting on this fact, cites the case of a double-flowered 

 almond which, after producing during several years almonds, suddenly 

 bore for two years in succession spherical fleshy peach-like fruits, but in 

 1865 reverted to its former state and produced large almonds. 



Again, as I hear from Mr. Rivers, the double-flowering Chinese peaches 

 resemble almonds in their manner of growth and in their flowers ; the fruit 

 is much elongated and flattened, with the flesh both bitter and sweet, but 



23 ' Transactions of Hort. Soc.,' vol. 

 iii. p. 1, and vol. iv. p. 369, and note to 

 p. 370. A coloured drawing is given 

 of this hybrid. 



24 ' Gardener's Chronicle,' 1856, p. 

 532. A writer, it may be presumed 

 Dr. Lindley, remarks on the perfect 

 series which may be formed between 

 the almond and the peach. Another 

 high authority, Mr. Rivers, who has 

 had such wide experience, strongly 

 suspects ('Gardener's Chronicle,' 1863, 

 p. 27) that peaches, if left to a state of 

 nature, would in the course of time 



retrograde into thick-fleshed almonds. 



25 ' Journal of Hort. Soc.,' vol. ix. p. 

 168. 



26 Whether this is the same variety 

 as one lately mentioned (' Gard. Chron.' 

 1865, p. 1154) by M. Carriere under 

 the name of Persica intermedia, I know 

 not ; this var. is said to be intermediate 

 in nearly all its characters between the 

 almond and peach ; it produces during 

 successive years very different kinds of 

 fruit. 



2 ? Quoted in ' Gard. Chron.' 1866, p. 

 800. 



