THE FRUIT GARDEN. 



477 



rates so unfavorably on some constitutions. The peach was deemed unwholesome 

 in Media ; but when planted in Egypt, it became delicious and salubrious. In Asia, 

 It has been cultivated from time immemorial ; but when it was introduced into 

 Greece is not known. It is still cultivated in Italy, and is there grown on standards 

 superior to any other in Europe. The Montreuil gardeners are noted for the fineness 

 of their fruits, which they grow upon low walls. They divide their peaches into 

 two classes : pavies, and peaches. The first class, or pavies, we call cHngstones, from 

 the flesh adhering to the stone, and are with us held in least estimation, for want of 

 sufficient heat to ripen them properly. In France they are esteemed the best as 

 well as in America. The second class, or peaches, are by us distinguished by the 

 appellation of free-stones from the flesh readily coming av» ay from the stone, and are 

 by us held in the highest estimation, while, on the other hand, the French and Ame- 

 ricans consider them to be inferior. The Americans are said to feed their pigs with 

 the free stones, and to use the clingstones or pavies for eating only. 



There the whole population has been maintained for several generations by the 

 cultivation of this fruit, which is their sole occupation. Tlie late Sir Joseph Banks 

 very justly remarked, that, *' it is there alone where the true management of this 

 deUcious fruit can be studied and attained ; for it is impossible, from written pre- 

 cepts, to acquire the whole art. The modes of winter and summer pruning, are 

 varied, not only according to the difierences of soil and exposure, but even according 

 to the state and constitution of every individual tree." Like the American peach- 

 growers, the French cultivate many sorts they have never budded, but always reared 

 from the stone, and others they bud on stocks of a sort of half wild peach, called Peche 

 de Vigne. In consequence of this arrangement of one species of fruit coming under 

 the management of individuals for many generations, they are brought to a degree 

 of perfection, which can never be attained in a garden where fruits of all sorts, and 

 a variety of other equally important duties fall to the care of a gardener. 



In the United States, particularly in the middle and southern provinces, it is no 

 uncommon circumstance for the owners of some of the peach orchards to be pos- 

 sessed of such a number of peach-trees as are sufficient, after fermenting and dis- 

 tiUing the juice to produce from fifty to a hundred barrels of peach brandy. The 

 manufacturing of this liquor, and the feeding of hogs, being the principal uses to 

 which the peach is applied in those countries. In the vicinity of Buenos Ayres, in 

 South America, where fire-wood is scarce, peach-trees are raised from the stone 

 chiefly for the purpose of burning. 



Knight is of opinion that the peach may yet, by proper cultivation, be sufficiently 

 hardened as to be naturalized to the climate of England, so as to succeed even as a 

 standard in favorable situations. 



There are of peaches, as well as all other fruits, long catalogues of names. Par- 

 kinson, in 1629, enumerates 21 sorts. Miller, in 1750, described 31 varieties. In 

 the Nursery Catalogues, both of Paris and London, there are enumerated nearly 

 100 varieties ; and the Horticultural Society's Catalogue enumerates 224 sorts. 



In the following lists we will confine ourselves to such as are well known, and 

 sufficiently described. 



1. Wkite Nutmeg. — Fruit small, round, white; juice sugary; is chiefly es- 

 teemed for being first ripe; ripens in July. 



2. Red Nutmeg. — Fruit much larger than the last, round; bright vermiUon; 

 flesh white, red next the stone ; is a great bearer, and ripens soon after the last ; is 

 esteemed a better fruit. 



3. Early Avant, — Fruit large, red, has £i.n agreeable flavor, and ripens in 

 August. 



