166 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



red with a heavy bloom, mottled with greenish 

 dots; flesh hard and blood-red, clinging, rich 

 and pleasant when fully ripe. Ripe early Sep- 

 tember. A very long keeper. We believe that 

 it is one of the coming Japanese Plums. The 

 red flesh may be against it in many markets. 

 It seems to be an excellent Plum for culinary 

 purposes. Tree moderately spreading, distin- 

 guished by its habit of bearing spurs and short 

 branches all along the main forks or branches 

 of the top. 



FTickson. — Fruit very large, tapering, heart- 

 shaped with a deep strong suture; colour 

 maroon-red to yellowish-red; flesh firm and 

 meaty, dull -yellow, rich but with an aromatic 

 Almond -like flavour, clinging, the pit small. 

 Tree a very narrow upright grower. Fruit 

 borne far down on the old wood and not in 

 clusters. Does not come into full bearing as 

 early as other varieties of Japanese Plums. 

 From its habit of bearing far down on the old 

 wood, and the comparatively small amount of 

 wood surface which it makes, it promises not 

 to be a very prolific variety, although it is 

 possible that when the trees arrive at a greater 

 age they may bear full crops. Ripe early 

 September. r A< w /i 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



Situation — Planting — Production of Fruit — Prun- 

 ing and Training — Thinning the Fruit — Other 

 Cultural Matters — Gathering the Fruit — Dis- 

 eases — Culture under Glass — Manures — Resting 

 Period — Pot Culture — Packing — Propagation — 

 Insect and other Enemies — Lists. 



The origin of the garden races of Peaches 

 and Nectarines is now generally admitted to 

 be Chinese. They are both forms of Primus 

 (Amygdalus) persica, the Peach having a downy 

 and the Nectarine a smooth skin. They have 

 been cultivated from a remote period. Accord- 

 ing to De Candolle, 1 the Peach spreads easily in 

 the countries in which it is cultivated, so that it 

 is hard to say whether a given tree is of natural 

 origin and anterior to cultivation, or whether 

 it is naturalized. But it certainly was first cul- 

 tivated in China; it was spoken of there two 

 thousand years before its introduction into the 

 Greco-Roman world, a thousand years, perhaps, 

 before its introduction into the lands of the 

 Sanskrit-speaking race. 



i Origin of Cultivated Plants. 



The facility with which Peach-trees are mul- 

 tiplied from seeds in America, and have produced 

 fine fleshy fruits, indicates that little change has 

 been wrought by long cultivation or hybridi- 

 zation. The varieties of recent origin are cer- 

 tainly either seedling sports or the result of 

 crossing one variety with another. 



The late Mr. Rivers, who raised many seed- 

 lings of both Peaches and Nectarines, found that 

 some of the varieties came true from seeds, viz. : 

 Royal George "reproduces itself from seeds 

 with rare exceptions"; Noblesse, "very rare to 

 find the least deviation"; Grosse Mignonne, 

 " out of twenty seedlings it is rare to find 

 much deviation from the parent stock"; Wal- 

 burton Admirable (fig. 965), "reproduces itself 

 from seeds ". There are numerous recorded 

 instances of a Nectarine originating from the 

 seed of a Peach, and vice versa. Also of the 

 same tree bearing both Peaches and Nectarines, 

 as well as fruit in part Nectarine and in part 

 Peach (fig. 966). 



The Peach is extensively grown between lati- 

 tudes 30° and 40°, in Asia, Europe, Africa, and 

 America. Under circumstances particularly 

 favourable, it will succeed considerably beyond 

 these limits, but its deciduous nature requiring 

 a period of rest, it is not fitted for a tropical 

 climate. On the other hand, beyond lat. 48° 

 the ground is too cold for its roots, and it will 

 not long continue to thrive unless budded on 

 some hardier species ; the tree, also, requires the 

 shelter of a wall or other artificial means of pro- 

 tection. If the summer is hot enough to ripen 

 the wood, it will stand a severe winter uninjured ; 

 but this is not found to be the case with trees 

 in the open ground, if the young shoots have 

 been grown under too low a temperature. In 

 localities where the mean temperature of Feb- 

 ruary is 40°, and that of March 44°, the Peach- 

 tree will be in full flower against a south wall" 

 in the last week in March; and if the mean 

 temperature of April is 49°, that of May 55°, 

 June 61°, July 64°, and August 63°, the season 

 may be considered a favourable one. The general 

 crop in that case will be ripe in late-August or 

 first week in September, and the fruit be of a 

 high degree of perfection. 



By artificial- means, or in a warmer climate, 

 the above period of five months from the time 

 of flowering to that of ripening may be reduced 

 to four, but not advantageously to a shorter 

 period, except in the case of very early varieties. 

 From the above it will be seen that the Peach 

 flowers at a comparatively cool period. The 

 blossoms may be destroyed by too much heat, 



