PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 



311 



history of the peach is obscure; of its origin, I may undertake 

 to say, that nothing is known and nothing can be known ; but it 

 seems to have been taken for granted, by the general consent of 

 many years, that Persia is its native home, and this opinion is also 

 confirmed by the botanical name given to it, Amygdalus Persica. 

 From this country it appears to have spread eastwards, through 

 Central Asia, to China, the north of India ; and westwards to the 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean, naturally obtaining an 

 early and permanent home in Syria, and thence passing into 

 Southern Gaul, under the care of the Phoenician mariners. It 

 appears to have been introduced into Gaul long before the Empire 

 of Rome rose into power and importance. The extraordinary 

 extent which its cultivation has obtained in China points to an 

 early introduction by the caravan routes of far distant ages, as 

 it is not indigenous ; the Long White Mountain, as examined by 

 James White and recent explorers, contains no members of the 

 peach family, although the flora of this mountain seems to be 

 identical with that of the same European and Asiatic latitudes. 

 The peach being apparently indigenous in Persia, it is evident 

 that its arrival in China was due to artificial means : the dried 

 fruits of the peach being used as food by the caravans, there is no 

 difficulty in accounting for its imported presence in this country, 

 the caravan trade between the Chinese and the great oriental 

 empires having existed for ages. Indeed, were it not for the 

 savage destruction of human life during later and probably less 

 civilised times, it is probable that the ancient routes would be 

 marked by trees growing from the seeds scattered by caravans 

 at their resting places ; the fruit being dried in the sun, it would 

 require soaking without cooking for consumption, and the germ- 

 inating power of the seed would not be destroyed. The absence of 

 trees on these routes, however, points out the exceeding difficulty 

 of the establishment and reproduction of any fruits useful to man, 

 unless assisted by intelligent care and cultivation. Central Asia 

 has been known to have suffered excessive and cruel changes, 

 by which men, animals, and plants have been stamped out. 

 There is a remark made by Mr. Howarth in the " Mammoth 

 and the Flood," which indicates the very high latitudes of 

 Siberia as the possible home of the peach at a remote period of 

 the world's history. He quotes Erman, who says : "In spite of 

 the climate, the flora of Irkutsk is richer than that of Berlin, 



