312 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



exhibiting plants of warmer countries, intermixed with those of 

 Arctic Regions. The wild peach of Nerchiusk is a true apricot, 

 Prunus Armeniaca, and contains a very agreeable kernel in a 

 fleshless envelope." Never having seen this fruit, I cannot 

 undertake to say whether it is an apricot or not ; the identity 

 would be, of course, ascertained by the stone, that of the apricot 

 differing widely from that of the peach. The fact, however, of 

 the presence of an apricot in such high latitudes is very curious, 

 for it seems impossible to account for the existence in one 

 country or district of one particular fruit only, and that the 

 peach, the almond, and the apricot, so nearly related, are so 

 wide apart in their reputed native habitats. I notice, however, 

 so singular an unanimity amongst all the authors of the history 

 of the peach, in avoiding giving any definite information, that we 

 may conclude that not much is known. The existence of this 

 Northern wild peach or apricot of Nerchiusk is, however, very 

 interesting, as it points to the possible origin and dispersion south- 

 wards from the North Polar regions of the plants, economic and 

 otherwise, now existing, a fact which I believe has been indicated 

 and established by Professor Thiselton Dyer. I should think it 

 not unlikely that the peach was not a popular fruit when grown 

 in orchards without especial cultivation; it has a tendency to 

 excessive production, and when allowed to bear without being 

 thinned the fruit is woolly and insipid. The Eosanne peach, 

 which is grown amongst vines as standards in the south 

 of France, is not a very tempting fruit; I have seen speci- 

 mens of this sort on the barrows in the London streets, 

 which are surprising examples of the hardihood of importers. 

 Orchard cultivation in the south of France appears to have 

 led the cultivators of the North to adopt methods for the im- 

 provement of the fruit by wall culture ; for Duhamel Monceau, 

 writing in 1740, observes that the difficult and expensive culti- 

 vation of the peach around Paris is amply compensated by the 

 delicious fruits obtained ; and he adds that Italians must be 

 content with pavies, or clingstones ; and even in Provence it is 

 difficult to obtain good and delicate fruit, the climate being too 

 hot. It is certain that the peach does not flourish in excessive 

 heat ; like all deciduous trees, it requires a season of rest after 

 fruiting; the keen winters of Persia are admirably adapted to 

 its special wants ; in the damp climate of England the plant is 



