526 A Classification of Peaches and Nectarines. 



whose flesh separates from the stone. Had there been no aug- 

 mentation of the number of varieties of these fruits since the 

 time when those authors wrote, their distinctions would pro- 

 bably have been sufficient, but the great influx of new kinds 

 demands a more systematic and extended division. 



Mr. Robertson * has gone much further into this subject 

 than either Miller or Duhamel, and has favoured us with 

 the first synoptical distribution of Peaches and Nectarines 

 which I have met with. It is simple and perfectly clear, as 

 far as it goes ; but it is defective in general application ; for if 

 he had attempted by it to make an arrangement of all the 

 different sorts, he would have found the eight subdivisions of 

 his table insufficient. Mr. Robertson's two classes, founded 

 on the leaves, are correct only so far as regards the first, or 

 those plants whose leaves are without glands. The second, 

 comprehending the glandular leaved kinds, required to be 

 extended to a third, for it includes plants with two distinct 

 natural characters dependent on the glands. His divisions 

 into those with large and those with small sized flowers 

 are also objectionable, since our collections furnish several 

 varieties of Peaches and Nectarines which possess a middle 

 character. The designating the large blossoms as light 

 coloured, and the small ones as deep coloured, cannot be 

 admitted as proper distinctions ; several of the small flowers 

 being quite as pale as the large ones. The character of 

 Mr. Robertson's subdivisions, founded on the adhesion 

 of the flesh to, or the parting from, the stone, are perfectly 

 natural. 



* See Horticultural Transactions, Vol. iii. page 380. 



