THE NECTARINE. 



817 



Amydalus Vulgaris Var Lcevis — ^Nectarine. 



TL3 nectarine is merely a variety of tlie peacli witli a 

 smooth skin. It is impossible to distinguisli the tree from 

 a peach, except that the fruit is without down. The same 

 characteristics of the leaf, flower, &c., which are used to 

 describe the varieties of the peach, are brought into re- 

 quisition in distinguishing those of the nectarine. 



i^ectai-ines usually produce nectarines from the seed ; 

 but the Boston nectarine originated from a peach stone. 



The tree is cultivated and pruned like the peach, and 

 is propagated by budding or grafting on peach stocks. 

 The great difficulty in raising nectarines (and the same is 

 true of the apricot), is the curculio. The smooth skin of 

 these fruits offers an inviting place for this insect to de- 

 posit its eggs. The injured fruit may be known by being 

 marked with a small semi-circular impression as if cut with 

 a " baby's nail." It is useless to plant the nectarine or 

 apricot, especially in sandy soils, unless the trees are daily 

 jarred, and the insects collected on sheets as they fall, 

 and immediately destroyed. A limb maybe cut off the 

 tree, and the stump hit a £ew times with a mallet smartly, 

 since if gently shaken the insect will not loose its hold. 

 Or another very good method is to plant the plums, 

 apricots, and nectarines by themselves, and admit poultry, 

 and sAvine to eat the fallen fruit, which will, if other fruit 

 gardens are not contiguous, protect the crop the succeed- 

 ing year.* The borer infests the nectarine as well as the 



la preventing the curculio, I am inclined to think that fowls are 

 much more serviceable than swine. The latter are of less use the 

 current season, and mostly beneficial as regards the ensuing crop ; 

 but the chickens and ducks will take the perfect insect, whenever 

 he falls upon the earth, or rises from it in the spring. 



