56 



We may observe, as to the choice of stocks, 

 that the main art of peach and nectarine cultivation 

 does not he here in quite so high a degree as some 

 persons imagine. Not that all stocks are alike ; 

 for much, very much, difference exists in this re- 

 spect. It must be well known to many of our 

 readers that peaches have been most frequently cul- 

 tivated with the highest possible amount of success 

 on the ordinary plum-stock ; and this merely by a 

 proper adaptation of soils, together with extreme care 

 in keeping down insects, and some other important 

 points, of which more in their proper place. 



Although it may appear somewhat egotistical, we 

 may perhaps be pardoned for mentioning that we 

 carried the Knightian medal at the July show, at 

 Chiswick, this year, against all competitors, by 

 peaches from a Bellegarde, budded on an ordinary 

 plum-stock. The tree, moreover, has only been 

 planted two years, being moved from the open wall, 

 where it covered an area of 100 feet at the period of 

 removal. Five of the peaches exhibited weighed 

 52f ozs., thus averaging nearly 11 ozs. each. We 

 question whether this weight, for five together, has 

 ever been exceeded. The stock, as before observed, 

 is the ordinary plum-stock. 



It is the practice of the nurseries, we believe, to 

 use w^hat is termed the Mussell plum-stock for this 

 purpose, at least for the common English peaches. 



