326 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



while the vine is seldom injured ; still the fig will mature its 

 fruit under circumstances, where the grape will not ripen. The 

 apricot is nearly allied to the peach, and will thrive in similar 

 situations, indeed in such as are really not so good, and it 

 seldom refuses to ripen its fruit in our most northerly gardens. 

 Next in importance to these fruits are some of the finest con- 

 tinental pears and American apples. Plums and cherries will 

 often succeed, where neither of the above-mentioned fruits will 

 thrive. In preparing borders for those trees, we will consider 

 them in the following routine : the peach, nectarine, and apri- 

 cot. The two former are so nearly allied to each other, that 

 it has been supposed by many, that they have sprung from one 

 common origin, and therefore are only varieties of the same spe- 

 cies. Linnoeus considered them as one species, differing only 

 in the one having downy fruit, and the other smooth. There 

 are many instances on record of both peaches and nectarines 

 growing on the same tree, and sometimes on the same branch. 

 One instance is recorded in the Horticultural Transactions, of 

 one single fruit partaking of the nature of both. The French 

 consider them as one fruit, arranging them in four divisions, 

 downy peaches with free stones, and downy peaches with cling 

 stones ; smooth peaches, or our nectarines, with free stones, 

 and smooth peaches with cling stones ; and many botanists 

 consider the peach and almond as one species. 



In preparing the borders for peach, apricot, and nectarine 

 trees, the first consideration is to render the bottom perfectly 

 dry by draining ; indeed, this precaution ought to be taken to 

 a certain degree, even where the bottom is perfectly dry, in 

 order to guard against accidental floods of water, or a long 

 series of wet weather in autumn, as their roots are very impa- 

 tient of too much wet. Where the borders are to be well 

 done, tlie natural soil should be entirely taken out to the depth 

 under the ground-level of the wall, of thirty inches or three 

 feet; the bottom should be rendered smooth, with a consider- 

 able fall from the wall to the walk sufficient to allow any water 

 that may collect to run freely off towards the walk, under 

 which should be a well-formed drain of the best materials the 

 nature of the place can afford. Stones or flints are to be pre- 

 ferred, when they can be got ; brick-bats are the next best for 



