PER 
lour. This ripens the middle of September, and, 
when the autumn is good, is an excellent Peach. 
28. The Perfique : this tree has fawed leaves ; the 
flowers are l'mall and contracted ; the fruit is large, 
oblong, and of a fine red colour next the fun ; the 
fiefh is melting, and full of a rich juice ; it feparates 
from the Hone, where it is of a deep red colour, i he 
ftalk has a fmall knot upon it ; this makes a fine tree, 
and is a good bearer ; it ripens the end of September. 
Many gardeners call this the Nivette. 
29. The monftrous Pavy of Pomponne (called by 
the French, La Pavie rouge de Pomponne:) the 
leaves of this tree are fmooth ; the flowers are large 
and open ; the fruit is very large and round, many 
times fourteen inches in circumference ; the fiefh is 
white, melting, and clofely adheres to the ftone, 
where it is of a deep red colour ; the outfide is a 
beautiful red next the fun, and of a paleflefli colour 
on the other fide. This ripens the end of Q&ober, 
and when the autumn is warm, is an excellent Peach. 
30. The Catharine : this tree hath fmooth leaves ; the 
flowers are fmall and contracted ; the fruit is large, 
round, and of a dark red colour next the fun ; the 
flefh is white, melting, and full of a rich juice. It 
clofely adheres to the ftone, where it is of a deep red 
colour ; it ripens the beginning of October, and in 
very good feafons is an excellent Peach, but being fo 
very late ripe, there are not many fltuations where it 
ripens well. 
31. The- Bloody Peach (called by the French, La 
Sanguinolle :) this Peach is of a middling fize, of a 
deep red next the fun ; the fiefh is of a deep red quite 
to the ftone, and from thence is by fome gardeners 
called the Mulberry Peach. This fruit rarely ripens 
in England, fo is not often planted, but it bakes 
and preferves excellently * for which, as alfo the 
curiofity, one or two trees may be planted, where 
there is extent of walling. 
There are fome other forts of Peaches which are kept 
in fome of the nurferies, but thofe which are here enu- 
merated, are the forts moft worth planting, and in the 
lift, the choiceft only fhould be planted ; but I fhall 
juft mention the names of thofe forts omitted, for the 
fatisfa&ion of the curious. 
The Sion ; the Bourdeaux ; the Swalch or Dutch; 
the Carlifie ; the Eaton ; the Peche de Pau •, yellow 
Admirable •, the double Flower. This laft fort is ge- 
nerally planted more for the beauty of the flowers, 
than for' the goodnefs of the fruit, of which fome 
years the ftandard trees produce great plenty-, but they 
are late ripe, and have a cold, watery, infipid juice. 
The Dwarf Peach is alfo preferved in fome places as 
a curiofity. This is a very tender tree, making very 
weak (hoots, which are very full of flower-buds. The 
fruit is not fo large as a Nutmeg, and not good, nor 
will the tree laft any time, fo it is not worth culti- 
vating. 
And indeed, from thefe thirty-one above-named, 
there are not above ten of them which I would advife 
to be planted ; becaufe, when a perfon can be furnifh- 
ed with thofe which are good, or has the belt of the 
feafon, it is not worth while to plant any which are 
middling or indifferent, for the fake of variety; there- 
fore the forts which I fhould prefer, are thefe after- 
mentioned. 
The early purple ; the Groffe Mignon ; Belle Chev- 
reufe ; red Magdalen ; Chancellor ; Bellegarde ; 
Bourdine ; Roffanna ; Rambouillet, and Nivette. 
Thefe are the forts beft worth planting ; and as they 
fucceed each other, they will furnifh the table thro’ 
the feafon of Peaches ; and, where there is room, and 
the fituation very warm, one or two trees of the Ca- 
tharine Peach fhould have place, for in very warm 
feafons it is an excellent fruit. 
As thefe eleven forts do follow each other in their time 
of ripening, fo unlefs there is extent of good afpe&ed 
walls, thefe will be fufficient to furnifh any family 
during the feafon of this fruit : but as in fome feafons 
there will be fome forts of Peaches very good, which 
in other feafons often prove but indifferent ; there- 
PER 
fore when there is a Efficient extent of good walls, I 
would recommend the planting three or four other 
forts, which feme years are excellent, though in ge- 
neral are not fo good as thofe before-mentioned. 
Thefe are the Montauban, the Line, the old New- 
ington, La Teton de Venus, the Catharine, and the 
Perfique. 
The French diftinguifh thofe we call Peaches into two 
forts, viz. Pavies and Peaches; thofe are called Peaches 
which quit the ftone, and thofe, whole fiefh clofely 
adheres to the ftone, are called Pavies. Thefe are 
much more efteemed in France than the Peaches, 
though in England the latter are preferred to the 
former by many per fens. 
The French alfo diftinguifh them into male and fe- 
male ; the Pavies they- make to be the male, and the 
Peaches the female ; but this divffion is without foun- 
dation, fince the kernels of both forts will produce 
trees equally ; for the flowers of Peach-trees are ge- 
nerally hermaphrodite, and have all the parts of ge- 
neration in them, fo that there is no heceflity for fup- 
poflng any of them to be entirely male or female : but 
it is likely, that this diftinftion is of long ftanding, 
before perfons had a perfedb notion of male and fe- 
male in plants, or at lead they did not know how to 
diftinguifh them afunder. 
The Nectarines (as I have in another place faid) are 
by the French called Brugnons, which differ from the 
other two forts, in having a firm hard fiefh, and the 
fkin quite fmooth, without any down upon them. 
The forts of thefe I have already mentioned under the 
article Nectarines, to which the reader may readily 
turn, therefore I fhall not repeat them in this place. 
I fhall now fet down the good qualities of Peaches, 
by which any perfon may judge of their worth. 
A good Peach ought to have a firm fiefh ; the ikin 
fhould be thin, of a deep or bright red colour next 
the fun, and of a yellowifh caft next the wall. The 
flefh fhould be of a yellowifh colour, full of juice, 
which fhould be high-flavoured, the ftone fmall, 
and the pulp or flefh very thick. When a Peach 
hath all thefe qualities, it may be efteemed a valua- 
ble fruit. 
All the different forts of Peaches have been originally 
obtained from the (tones, which, being planted pro- 
duce new varieties, as do the feeds of all other fruits ; 
fo that where perfons have garden enough to allow 
room for propagating thefe fruits from feeds, there 
is no doubt but many good forts may be obtained, 
which will be better adapted to our climate, than fuch 
as are brought from warmer countries ; though it is 
true, that there will be many of them good for no- 
thing, as is the cafe of moft fruits and flowers which 
are produced from feeds, amongft which there may 
be fome valuable kinds, fuperior to thofe from 
whence the feeds were taken, yet there is always a 
great number which are little worth ; but if we can 
obtain only two or three valuable forts, it is fufficient 
to make amends for the trouble of raffing them ; but 
where perfons are fo curious as to plant the (tones of 
thefe fruits, great regard fhould be had to the forts ; 
and if the fruits were permitted to remain upon the 
trees until they dropped off, the kernels would be fit- 
ter for planting, and more likely to grow. The beft 
forts for fowing are thofe whofe flefh is firm, and 
cleayes to the ftone ; and from amongft thefe you 
fhould chufe fuch as ripen pretty early, and have a rich 
vinous juice, from which forts fome good fruit may 
be expe&ed. 
Thefe ftones fhould be planted in autumn, on a bed 
of light dry earth, about three inches deep, and four 
inches afunder ; and in the winter the beds fhould be 
covered to proted: them from the froft, which, if 
permitted to enter deep into the ground, will deftroy 
them. In the fpring, when the plants come up, they 
fhould be carefully cleared from the weeds, which 
fhould alfo be obferved throughout the fummer ; and 
if the fpring fhould prove very dry, if you refrefh 
them now and then with a little water, it will greatly 
promote their growth. In this bed they fhould re- 
main 
m 
