THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



487 



with profitable success either as standards or 

 trained to open espaliers. In few places in the 

 north of England or Scotland will they prosper 

 otherwise than against south walls. In certain 

 upland and cold districts it is imprudent to plant 

 the peach at all, as pears would yield a far more 

 profitable and certain return. Latitude has much 

 less to do with this than altitude ; for excellent 

 peaches and nectarines are produced in some 

 parts of Ross-shire and Sutherland, while in 

 many of the localities along the English and 

 Scotch border they would not do much more 

 than drag out a miserable existence, and to at- 

 tempt to grow them for their fruit would be 

 hopeless. One cause why the peach succeeds so 

 well in the far north, and one which has, so far 

 as we know, been unnoticed in books on horti- 

 culture, is the lateness of the season when the 

 flowers expand, and the warmth of summer and 

 fine autumns which in general occur in the warm 

 sheltered spots chosen for gardens so far north, 

 and which are often at the base of hills or rocks, 

 enjoying the reflected heat therefrom. 



Some lay great stress on the quality of the soil 

 in which the peach is planted, and no doubt on 

 this much of their future prosperity depends; 

 but, on the other hand, much depends on situa- 

 tion as regards local climate and circumstances. 

 We have had very healthy trees growing in a 

 cold stiff clayey soil upon a chalk subsoil, as at 

 Stratton Park, Hampshire ; on a rich loamy soil 

 on a gravel substratum at Abercairney, Perth- 

 shire ; on a poor light sandy soil (ground origi- 

 nally reclaimed from a heath-clad common), at 

 Claremont, in Surrey; and on an equally light 

 and poor sandy soil at Taymouth Castle, in 

 Breadalbane, and on a made soil of intermediate 

 quality at Dalkeith. In the deep rich alluvial 

 soils of the Carse of Gowrie, splendid peaches are 

 produced from very healthy trees, and also in 

 the deep alluvial sandy soils in Flanders. In all 

 these cases, however, climate, either naturally or 

 artificially, is favourable to the growth of the 

 peach. These, and various other circumstances 

 coupled with climate, lead us to the belief that 

 much of the ultimate success depends on judi- 

 cious pruning and training, reducing or encou- 

 raging the strength of the trees, as the case may 

 be ; adapting these operations to the circum- 

 stances of both soil and climate ; and, above all, 

 selecting those varieties which are suited in con- 

 stitution to the locality. The nomenclature of 

 soils is still so vague that it is almost next to 

 useless to recapitulate those recommended in 

 books. As a specimen, however, we may make 

 the following quotation from the " Encyclo- 

 paedia of Gardening," p. 913 : "A good soil for 

 peach trees," according to Abercrombie, " is com- 

 posed of three parts mellow unexhausted loam, 

 and one part drift-sand, moderately enriched 

 with leaf-mould, or the cooler dungs." Forsyth 

 says, " Peaches require a lighter soil than pears 

 and plums, and a light mellow loam is best." 

 Harrison prefers " a loamy soil, somewhat adhe- 

 sive," as do most of the experienced gardeners 

 of the present day. From even these high autho- 

 rities little can be gleaned useful to the tyro in 

 horticulture. A rich, mellow, somewhat adhe- 

 sive loam, taken from near the surface of an 



old pasture, without the aid of artificial en- 

 richment, together with what vegetable matter 

 may exist on it, is no doubt the best for all 

 moderately-good climates. A lighter soil may 

 be more advisable in a cold or damp climate 

 or locality. There are other circumstances that 

 have too often been very much overlooked, 

 namely, that there are certain soils naturally, 

 and certain localities having nothing very parti- 

 cular in their general character, that are much 

 better suited to the peach than others contiguous 

 to them, and between which it would be difficult 

 to draw a visible line of distinction. In good 

 climates, even with an indifferent soil, peaches 

 often thrive well. In bad climates, be the soil 

 what it may, they do not. It should, however, 

 be our aim in culture to improve both, and so 

 far as possible to make each act as auxiliary to 

 the other. 



In making prepared borders for the peach, 

 we would avoid too light a soil, and approach a 

 pretty rich mellow alluvial or loamy deposit, 

 taking special care that the bottom is rendered 

 thoroughly dry, and the depth graduated to the 

 coldness or dampness of the locality; and no 

 means are better to insure this than vaulting 

 them underneath, as recommended, vol. i. p. 31. 

 Thorough drainage is not only necessary to the 

 welfare of the roots of the peach and all other 

 tender trees — and this the more so, as the situa- 

 tion is cold, late, or damp — but subterranean 

 aeration, or underground ventilation, is equally 

 essential; and next to vaulting or chambering 

 the borders underneath, is the system of drain- 

 ing and aeration recommended, vol. i. p. 27, and 

 illustrated by fig. 11. Indeed, were arrange- 

 ments made by which the air in such vaults 

 could be heated during spring and summer as ex- 

 emplified in the gardens of the Marquis of Tweed- 

 dale, vol. i., p. 31, the roots of such trees as the 

 peach and nectarine would be placed in a condi- 

 tion nearer to that of their native country, Persia, 

 and made to reciprocate with the atmospheric 

 heat their leaves are placed in during the warm 

 days of our springs and summers. With this 

 increased temperature and aeration below, a 

 stronger and more congenial soil could be em- 

 ployed for them, thus not only insuring healthy 

 development in youth, but also extending the 

 period of their productive existence. Under 

 such conditions the peach and nectarine would 

 flourish in situations where at present they can 

 scarcely be maintained alive. 



In cold and damp situations, peach-tree bor- 

 ders can hardly be made too shallow, if resting 

 on a solid subsoil. We have them, in some cases, 

 only 14 inches deep, resting on an alluvial gravel; 

 but in warm and dry places a greater depth may 

 be indulged in. We have more than once, in 

 vol. i., pointed out that, as all borders are reduced 

 in depth, they should be proportionally increased 

 in breadth, to allow ample scope for the roots, 

 while at the same time they are kept near to the 

 surface, that they may enjoy the benefit of sun- 

 heat and air. We may also here state as an un- 

 conditional rule, that no peach-borders should 

 be cropped, and that they should be as little 

 disturbed as possible. Leaving the borders of 

 fruit trees uncropped, or admitting only crops of 



