October 11, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
341 
Although of little value as fruits, I thought they might prove valuable 
in imparting precocity to the later and better Peaches, and being young 
and curious I amused myself by mixing the pollen of the early and 
midseason varieties, preserving and sowing the stone3 of the fruit so 
treated. When the first batch of seedlings fruited, consisting of some 
two or three hundred trees, my father and myself were much interested 
in observing the curious diversity exhibited. Whether or no the mixture 
of the varieties caused this divergence, the appearance of early Peaches 
was at once an established fact, and in rapid succession came the “ Early 
Beatrice,” “ Early Louise,” “ Early Rivers,” giving an abundance of 
fruit in the orchard house during J uly, a month hitherto barren of any 
but worthless sorts. With the advent of the Stanwick ” Nectarine 
an entirely new race, both of Nectarines and Peaches, was created, the 
rich flavour and size of the Syrian fruit imparting a totally different 
quality to the progeny of the ordinary Peaches and Nectarines, and to 
this mixture I owe the Lord Napier Nectarine, for although this was 
raised from a Peach, there is no doubt but that it inherited the Stan¬ 
wick blood. Most of the seedlings raised from this race have vigorous 
growth and deep green sickle-shaped leaves. 
In 1874 I received from Messrs. Capps & Son of Mount Pulaski, 
Illinois, two Peaches which they affirmed were the earliest to ripen in 
the United States ; these Peaches were the Alexander and Amsden 
June. I confess that I was entirely incredulous, but I had the plants 
potted, and in due time they produced and ripened fruit ; to my great 
pleasure it matured in a cold orchard house six days before the Early 
Beatrice. The Alexander, although slightly clinging to the stone, is a 
Peach of high quality in every sense ; but the Amsden June, ripe 
almost on the same day, is slightly bitter and a clingstone. I did not 
think it necessary to cultivate two varieties so closely allied, and I 
preferred the Alexander. I see, however, that on the Continent the 
Amsden June is selected as being the superior. I cannot help thinking 
that in some cases the two varieties have become changed, a very easy 
matter, as they are so much alike. Alexander, Waterloo, and Hale’s 
Early are three very valuable early Peaches, and very distinct; the 
foliage of all is easily distinguished by the expert, the leaves being very 
bright and lanceolate, and the wood deep in colour. Although the 
Alexander and Waterloo are earlier than the Early Beatrice and Early 
Louise, yet the hardiness and fertility of these two English sorts will 
always keep them in general cultivation. I am almost inclined to think 
that the Early Beatrice, if grown in the open air after protection during 
the spring, would give a reasonable profit. I have seen it ripen on 
neglected bushes in the last week in July out of doors, the colour of the 
fruit being so bright that I thought some Poppies had been overlooked. 
The midseason Peaches are of course well known to all gardeners. 
The great tribes or races are the Noblesse, Grosse Mignonne, Galande, 
and Madeleine. From these types hundreds of varieties appear to have 
been raised from seed and named. The Noblesse is probably derived 
from the Madeleine Blanche, and reproduces itself frequently from seed. 
The Grosse Mignonne is one of the most popular Peaches in France 
Under this name Andrd Leroy enumerates no less than fifty-seven 
synonyms. There is' no doubt that is one of the most excellent of 
Peaches. According to this French author it has two centuries of 
existence. La Quintinye, in 1C80, declares that the Mignonne is the 
finest Peach in cultivation, very large, velvety and round, melting and 
exquisite, but sometimes flat and insipid, a fault from which no Peach 
is entirely free under certain conditions of soil and culture. In England 
this Peach has obtained so much popular favour that it is encumbered with 
synonyms. There is no doubt that it is worthy of the extended cultivation 
it has received, and it is to be regretted that the season of ripening 
cannot be enlarged ; the multitude of seedlings which have been raised 
from it have not, however, produced this desirable result. The Early 
Grosse Mignonne ripens sometimes in advance, and the Belle Bauce 
or Mignonne Tardive somewhat later, but the few days of difference are 
not of any great importance. There is a variety, said to be Grosse 
Mignonne, with small flowers, which I understand is sometimes sold by 
continental growers. This is a false Mignonne ; the true Grosse Mig¬ 
nonne has large, clear brilliant flowers, and the leaves have globose 
glands. 
The Galande is another distinct race of Peaches, which is also en¬ 
cumbered with synonyms both in England and France. It is distin¬ 
guished from the Grosse Mignonne by the intensity of the colour of the 
fruit. When exposed to the sun in a warm season the skin becomes 
almost black, and one of its synonyms is Noire de Montreuil. It is 
perhaps hardier than the Grosse Mignonne, and for this reason it is 
cultivated very extensively in the Peach gardens of Montreuil, and is 
the principal market Peach. The flavour of the fruit, when thoroughly 
ripe, is very good, but visitors to Paris sometimes complain that the 
price is excessive, and that a franc a piece for hard and dry fruit is too 
much, the fact being that they are gathered long before they are ripe. 
The flowers of the Galande are invariably small. The Madeleine Rouge 
is the prototype of our popular Royal George, which again seems to be 
the sport of name-givers. The English sort under this name is so well 
established that it can be easily identified. The flowers are small, and 
the leaves serrated. The fruit is of the highest quality, but the exces¬ 
sive tendency to mildew renders this sort difficult to cultivate, as there 
appears no remedy for this disease. The Red Magdalen and Madeleine 
de Courson, which seem to have been very mixed with the Royal George, 
have large flowers and are glandless. I am responsible for the introduc¬ 
tion of many varieties of Peaches, but I cannot say that I have ever 
studied the interest of the wall cultivators. Wall cultivation, unless 
in certain very favoured districts, appeared to me to be a weary waste 
of labour, and my object has always been to provide the orchard 
house with fruit from day to day, ranging from July to the end of 
September, after which date no reasonable man need desire Peaches or 
Nectarines. 
In September after the Royal George we have the Barrington, 
claimed by the French as a synonym of the Chancellor ; the Walburton 
Admirable, which is evidently a seedling from the Noblesse ; the Late 
Admirable, which is also claimed by French pomologists as a synonym 
of the Bourdin. The orchard house has, I am glad to say, introduced 
a new race of late Peaches; these are—Princess of Wales, Lady 
Palmerston, Golden Eagle, the Nectarine, Sea Eagle, Gladstone, and 
Osprey, all of which fruits in the orchard house properly grown are far 
superior to the Late Admirable, Chancellor, Gregory’s Late, Desse 
Tardive, or any other so'called October Peaches, There is a variety of 
the Peach which has never been very popular in England, but which 
is used in the south of France for stewing ; this is the Pavie, the fruit 
being large and heavy, with tough and tasteless flesh, and a skin as 
disagreeable to the touch as cotton velvet. This is the Melacoton of the 
Spanish (Anglice, Cotton Apples). In the soft Proven 9 al tongue it is 
Mirecoton, or Mirlecoton, and in the United States, where the fruit 
seems to be popular, it is ingeniously transformed into Malagatune. 
If these Peaches could be grown out of doors like Pears or Apples they 
might make a pleasant addition to the dinner table, but they are not 
worth either the time or cost of glass or wall culture. 
Since the introduction of the Stanwick Nectarine a great advance 
has taken place in this smooth-skinned brother of the Peach. Some few 
years since the Elruge and Yiolette H&tive were the principal sorts 
grown, we have now a more extended range. These ordinary varieties 
of Nectarines, unless very skilfully and exceptionally grown, are small 
and insipid. The green-fleshed sorts have not been considered as equal 
in flavour to the orange-fleshed kinds. I think, however, this is no 
longer the case, the intermixture of the Stanwick race having imparted 
a quality of flesh differing completely from the older sorts. This is 
exemplified by the Victoria Nectarine, which was raised by my father, 
and is the result of a cross between the Violette Hative and the Stan¬ 
wick. This is a very delicious and distinct Nectarine, but it ripens too 
late for walls in our climate, and mu3t, therefore, be grown under glass 
to be enjoyed in perfection. The early sort, Lord Napier, I believe 
inherits the Stanwick blood, although it came from a Peach. This Necta¬ 
rine begins a series of fruits which last through August and September, 
divided into two distinct types, the orange-fleshed and the green-fleshed. 
There are now many important varieties of the former, and I venture to 
say that the better known they are the more popular they will become, 
the principal sorts being the Rivers’ Orange, the Pitmaston, Humboldt, 
and Pine Apple. These ripen generally in the order in which they are 
placed. The most decided success of late years in seedling Nectarines is 
the Lord Napier, ripening fully ten days in advance of the Hunt’s 
Tawny, a Nectarine valued for its precocity, but otherwise of no merit. 
In Peaches and Nectarines, as in all other fruits, I hope we shall cease 
to place a fictitious value upon varieties because they happen to be old 
and historical. It will be much better, both for ourselves and for others, 
if we can improve the standard of flavour and merit. This can only be done 
by the judicious raising of seedling fruits. I have tried with varying 
success for many years, but considerable improvement is still desirable 
both in early and late Peaches. The failure of flavour attributed to the 
latter, however, appears to me to result from the fact that the tree, unless 
kept in a gentle warmth, is unable to complete the ripening. For this 
reason I think that the late sorts should be grown in a house devoted 
especially to them, so that the necessary heat should be applied. This 
continual heat is injurious to those sorts which have ripened their fruits 
