v.] THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 169 



pear partake of the nature of the haw^ vrhich 

 grows upon the thorn, and which is a stone-fruit 

 too 1 If this notion were correct, there could be 

 hardly a single apple-orchard in all England : for. 

 they graft upon crab-stocks ; and, of course, all 

 the apples, in the course of years, would become 

 crabs. Apricots and Peaches are, in England, al- 

 ways put on plum-stocks ; yet, after centuries of 

 this practice, they do not become plumbs. If the 

 fruit of the graft partake of the nature of the 

 stock, why not the wood and leaves ? Yet, is it not 

 visible to all eyes, that neither ever does so par- 

 take ? — This, then, like the carrying of the farina 

 from the male to the female flower, is a mere whim, 

 or dream. The bud, or graft; retains its own na- 

 ture, wholly unchanged by the stock ; and, all that 

 is of consequence, as to the kind of stock, is, whe- 

 ther it be such as will last long^ and supply the 

 tree with a suitable quantity of wood. This is a 

 matter of great importance ; for, though peach will 

 grow on peach, and apple on apple, the trees are 

 not nearly so vigorous and durable as if the peach 

 were put on the plum and the apple on the crab. 

 In ISOO, I sent several trees from England to 

 Messrs. James and Thomas Paul, at Busleton, in 

 Pennsylvania. There was a Nectarine amongst 

 these. It is well known, that, in 1817, there had 

 been so great a mortality in the peach orchards, 

 that they had become almost wholly extinct. At 

 Busleton there had been as great a mortality as in 

 any other part. Yet I, that year, saw the Nectarine 

 tree lai^ge, sound in every part, fine and flourish- 

 ing. It is very well known, that the peach trees 

 here are very short-lived. Six, seven, or eight 

 years, seem, to be the duration of their life. This 

 Nectarine had stood seventeen years, and was 

 15 



