It was written by a Chinese gentleman in the 17th century. 
It is called a "Practical Guide to the Amateur Gardener," and 
was translated into French by a famous sinologue. Now it is out 
of print, but one prized copy is mine. 
Wondering what my Chinese friend has to say about my 
favorite fruit, I turn the pages so full of quaint and amusing 
things, and come to his remarks upon the peach. 
"The Peach is the most important of the five (fruit) trees; 
its fruit is an emblem of divinity, it figures constantly between 
the hands of genii. 
"Its branches are flexible and open, its leaves narrow and 
long. In the second moon it opens its flowers which, according 
to the variety are red, or white, or flesh color, or even a very dark 
red. One variety has single flowers of red, another a thousand 
petals of flesh color, still another a thousand petals of white. 
Certain kinds have no odor. Others have an agreeable perfume. 
And always the flower is charming, the fruit exquisite and 
abundant. 
"To secure whatever variety one wishes to plant, it is 
necessary to select a beautiful sound Peach taken from a vigorous 
tree, and bury it entire with all its flesh, the pointed end up, in 
earth well mixed with manure. Planted in a soil which is tilled 
with well-rotted manure to the depth of at least a foot, the tree 
will appear in spring and can be transplanted. 
''Fail to transplant it into well-enriched ground and the fruit 
will remain small and bitter. 
"Here one meets with a difficulty. All varieties of Peaches 
spring easily from the earth when they are planted near the 
surface. Planted very deeply they will not grow. But, on the 
other hand, planted near the surface they do not live long. 
Tradition has left us a proceeding which succeeds well. (This 
must be the "satisfactory results" of the present day catalogs 
and garden articles!) The root being planted somewhat deeply, 
as soon as the flowers have fallen in the second year cut down 
the tree. It will reappear from tbe roots. Cut it down again as 
soon as the shoos appear. In this manner the roots can 
penetrate deeply into the soil and cling to it firmly. The tree 
will then be large and can g' ve fruit for many years, just as 
sweet and just as abundant as in the first harvest. 
"If there is too much fruit upon oae tree, much will fall 
before maturity, it is well with trees of this sort to make at the 
foot a little hillock (altar?) of earth and stone on the day of 
the Spring Offerings. This precaution will prevent the fruit 
from falling. 
"If the Peach tree is attacked by insects one can get rid of 
them by watering and sprinkling with cold weak broth made 
from the head of a pig. Jf the tree is infested with those insects 
called Ilsia, one should hang the carcass among the branches, 
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