CULTURE OF PEACHES AND NECTARINES ON THE OPEN WALL. 305 
tendency to flower at present by the timely removal of undeveloped blossoms, when a 
concentration of vigour in the specimen will, of course, be the resultant effect of the plant 
being prevented blooming yet awhile. 
A final transference into a pot of good specimen size must now be thought about, ere 
the vigorous state of the specimen receive an undue check by becoming “ pot-bound ; ” 
in the accomplishment of the final shift, the compost may this time be rendered somewhat 
rougher, and therefore more porous, by the addition of some turfy loam, and a little more 
sand, to the mixture previously employed ; the drainage, likewise, being proportionately 
ample, and made more secure, by the inversion of a sixty-sized pot over the aperture 
of the larger one intended for the reception and growth of the specimen, the final 
potting performed with tolerable firmness, the ball, of course, being unbroken, and 
not too much depressed in its new position, a liberal watering may be given, and the 
plant placed in a cool pit for a week or so, until re-established, or, indeed, until the com- 
pletion of its growth, should the period chance to be hot and dry, or if vice versa to the 
latter, its primary site cannot well be improved upon ; the watering part of its manage- 
ment, however, must now be carefully watched ; for if allowed to become saturated 
at all — which, with sufficient drainage, it can scarcely be, provided the fluid ap- 
pliances be judiciously managed — the evil consequences will soon be apparent ; and 
thus, also, will it result if too inadequate a supply of water, in a dry and sunny period, be 
accorded, in which case denudation of the lowermost branches of the plant would 
inevitably ensue. 
Henceforth the training must be conducted after the same plan as hitherto, i. e., by 
directing perpendicularly the leading shoot (or shoots, if three plants), the stopping of 
which must be “ few and far between,” or the desired altitude of the specimen will not be 
attained — respecting which, however, the judgment of the culturist must, of course, be 
exercised, in order to counteract the nakedness or malformation of any part of it inter- 
vening the base and apex, when fully grown ; nor need a rigorous stopping of lateral 
growth be performed, as a less formal and more graceful aspect will, of course, be obtained 
by permitting the side branchlets to grow with natural freedom, and yet, by skilful 
management, with such a degree of regularity as to compose an equal pyramid, and 
preserve the informal uniformity inseparable from plant culture, when brought about by a 
strict adherence to the rules of art. 
In about eighteen months from the period of propagation, a most unique “ specimen ” 
may be produced ; but as the subject of our notice is at best but a plant of very delicate 
constitution, a goodly reserve of young plants to form specimens, or, what would be 
preferable, several well-managed plants in various stages of development, should be kept 
on hand to meet casualties that with the best of cultivation will sometimes occur. 
The home of Lotus jacobceus in winter is the greenhouse, where skilful treatment will 
preserve it throughout this season in the condition of an ever-green, but if at all neglected, 
or injudiciously treated by exposure to too much drought, or an over-due amount of mois- 
ture at the root or over-head, much of the soft wood, and its tender foliage, will be lost, 
if the plant does not perish altogether. 
CULTURE OF PEACHES AND NECTARINES ON THE OPEN WALL. 
By Robert Errington, OultonPark , Oct. } 1849. 
Although the culture of the Peach and Nectarine has made some advance in later 
years in the gardens of our nobility and gentry, yet even there, the amount of perfection 
desirable and attainable, has not in general been consummated ; whilst in the garden of 
the mere amateur, it is truly lamentable to witness the numerous failures ; for could the 
latter succeed to his heart’s desire, the Peach and Nectarine would be amongst the 
most important of his fruit trees. Important, because most of the luxuries and indul- 
vol. i. — no. x. R R 
