594 



THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



ing is suspended by rings ; each piece of bunting is of the size of the 

 tree ; and in the day-time it is drawn from the sides to the middle, and 

 fastened to the wall till near sunset, when it is spread out again. A very 

 efficient mode is to cover the wall with double netting, and allow it to remain 

 on till the fruit is fairly set. This mode dispenses with much daily labour, 

 and, like the thin canvas, protects the blossoms from the frequently too 

 powerful rays of the sun, which, striking against a south v»'all, is more than 

 the peach, as a standard in its native country, has to bear at the blossoming 

 period of the season. 



1808. Growing the peach on a flued wall. — When this is the case, fire 

 should not be applied till after the fruit has stoned, the object being not to 

 force forward the blossoming of the trees in spring, but to accelerate the 

 ripening of the fruit and wood in autumn. The maturation of the wood 

 may, in some cases, require the border to be thatched to throw off heavy 

 rains, and lessen the flow of moisture to the shoots. 



1309. The acceleration of the ripening of a crop of peaches on a common 

 -wall has been effected by covering the border, to the width of five or six feet 

 from the bottom of the wall, with tiles; the reflection of the heat from 

 which has been found by Mv. Barron (G. M. 1840,) to ripen the fruit 

 in the lower part of the wall, a fortnight before that on the upper part. 

 The retardation of a crop may be effected on the same principle, by inter- 

 posing a screen of canvas, or boards, or any other convenient medium 

 between the trees and the sun. It should, however, be placed merely as a 

 screen, and not as a preventive against the escape of radiant heat from 

 the wall and ground, a principal object in spring covering ; when retardation 

 is required, the screen should be placed so as to intercept the sun's rays, 

 leaving at the same time an opening at top for the escape of radiant heat. 



1310. Gathering should take place a day or two before the fruit is to be 

 used, and before it is dead ripe, and it should be laid on clean paper in the 

 summer fruit-room. Peaches may be gathered in the heat of the day 

 without any deterioration of flavour ; in this respect they are very diff^erent 

 from such northern fruits as the gooseberry, currant, and strawberry, which 

 should be gathered in the morning. Provision for the dropping of ripe fruit 

 should be made as already directed (998). 



1311. Diseases, Insects, S^c. — The peach and nectarine are liable to the 

 honey-dew, mildew, gum, blister, and canker. The mildew may be de- 

 stroyed by Avatering the leaves and dusting them with sulphur ; but little 

 can be done with the other diseases, excepting taking care that the regimen 

 is suitable. The blister (la cloque, Fr.) is produced by cold when the leaves 

 are just expanding, and it thickens and distorts them in such a manner, as to 

 prevent the proper elaboration of the sap. Nothing can be done with them but 

 taking them off^,as soon as warmer w^eather favours the production of healthier 

 foliage. Lifting the trees and replanting them in fresh soil, and taking care 

 that the shoots are annually thoroughly ripened, will check incipient canker 

 and gum, and enable trees tainted with these diseases to continue bearing for 

 some years longer than they otherwise would have done. The red spider, 

 the chermes, the black and green aphis, and the coccus, attack the peach. 

 The last should be washed off by syringing with soft-soap and water, or 

 with clear w^ater, and a hard brush. The chermes is the cause of the 

 leaves rising into unsightly red blister-like tubercles, and can only be de- 

 stroyed by the use of tobacco-water, which, after it has taken effect, may be 



