PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 



310 



indications that peach culture will be carried on to a considerable 

 extent in this country for profit, it is well to say to those who are 

 not experienced that all walls should be protected by glass if 

 profit is to be expected, and that the trees should be planted so 

 that both sides should have the benefit of light and air. For 

 those who desire a constant supply of fruit during the summer 

 months no system is equal to pot culture, and I should advise the 

 use of perforated pots, the perforation being near the top of the 

 pot and not at the bottom. Rootlets will arise to the surface " to 

 feed." The employment of perforated pots enables the cultivator 

 to check the excessive growth of the tree, as the roots emitted 

 through the perforations can be removed annually, the pot of 

 course being sunk in the soil or in a prepared border ; under 

 this system the trees do not require so much water as when 

 grown in pots standing on the surface soil and not plunged. Pot 

 cultivation is not universally popular, as there are difficulties 

 which do not appear to have been surmounted by all those who 

 have attempted the system ; but for my own part, having known 

 it for the last thirty years, and having never known a failure, I 

 must speak well of it, the advantages being that a constant 

 supply of fruit can be kept up without having an inconvenient 

 supply at any one time, which will happen with either wall or 

 trellis culture. As some have succeeded, it is, however, probable 

 that failure does not lie in the system, but in the application. 

 Whether trees should be planted out, grown in pots standing 

 on the surface, or in perforated pots plunged in the soil, and 

 annually root pruned, there will, without doubt, be considerable 

 difference of opinion, but there can be no question that to 

 ensure a certain and profitable crop the trees should be grown 

 in a span-roofed house running north and south, so that the sun 

 shines on both sides, that it must be thoroughly ventilated, 

 and devoted exclusively to the cultivation of the peach and 

 nectarine. 



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