F, bruary 17,1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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Linn^au Sccietj' at 8 p.m. Royal Society at 1.S0 p m. 
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Quixquages’.ma. 
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Shrove Tuesday. 
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Society of Arts at 8 P.M. 
CULTURE OF THE PEACH IN THE OPEN AIR' 
OT WITHSTANDING all that lias been 
written of late about the changeableness and 
deterioration of our climate, “ and the hope¬ 
lessness of attempting to grow and ripen 
Peaches and Nectarines in the open air in this 
country,” it is well known there are places in 
different parts of England and Wales where 
Peaches and Nectarines are still as well grown 
on open walls as ever they were at any time within the 
remembrance of the oldest amongst us. Ditton Park, 
Slough, Bucks, is famed for its Peach wall, and justly 
so. I have known Mr. Lindsay and the gardens at 
Ditton for the last thirty years, and during seven or eight 
years while I resided in the vicinity, I was a constant 
visitor at Ditton, and had many opportunities of inspect¬ 
ing the trees and the fine crops they produced. I have 
not seen them for some years, but it is satisfactory to learn 
from the Journal that the Peach wall, under the able 
superintendence of Mr. Lindsay, is still famed for its 
excellent crops of superior fruit. 
There are several places in this neighbourhood where 
Peach trees do well on south walls, and ripen good crops 
of highly coloured fruit in good seasons. To accomplish 
this the trees must be kept in perfect health, and properly 
attended to at all times, and never allowed to suffer from 
the attacks of green fiy or red spider during the growing 
season. Green fiy and red spider are two of the worst 
enemies the Peach has to contend with, and if not 
thoroughly mastered as soon as they make their appear¬ 
ance they will disfigure the trees and destroy the crops 
in a short time. Peaches are well grown at St. Fagan's 
Castle, Court-r-ally, Pontcanna, and in several places at 
Llandaff, near Cardiff; hut I do not know of any place 
in South Wales, or indeed in this country, where there are 
so many fine Peach and Nectarine trees, or where better 
crops of fruit are obtained, than at Sing ! eton Abbey near 
Swansea. I have seen these trees on several occasions 
during the summer and autumn, but never bad an oppor¬ 
tunity of inspecting them in winter when denuded of their 
leaves till a few weeks ago when paying Mr. Harris a 
visit, and I must say I have never seen healthier or better 
furnished trees anywhere. They were covered from top to 
bottom with thoroughly ripened young shoots from 18 to 
20 inches in length, and studded alt ©yer with fruit buds. 
Mr. Harris informed me that the border was com¬ 
posed of rich loam and old mortar, which was not more 
than 18 inches deep, and that it was cropped with vege¬ 
tables to within 4 feet of the bottom of the wall (which 
4 feet is mulched with stable litter), and that no manure 
was dug into it at anytime. Indeed, Mr. Harris does 
No. 347.— Vol. XIV., Third Series. 
not approve of dung or large deep borders for Peach 
trees in the open air, which induces them to grow too 
luxuriantly to be fruitful. When the soil gets exhausted 
it is removed, and fresh loam and old mortar added as 
required. From his experience in Peach culture he finds 
it necessary to lift the young trees carefully early in the 
autumn for the first three years after planting, to check 
their gro >th and bring them into fruiting. The trees are 
syringed night and morning during the summer, and 
watered with liquid manure once a week in hot dry 
weather. 'J hey are taken from the wall every winter to 
allow of it being painted with pure petroleum to kill insects 
of all kinds that may be harbouring there, and not for 
the purp >se of retarding the bloom as some gardeners do.. 
When the trees are in flower they are protected by screens, 
canvas, and Spruce branches until the fruit has set and 
all danger from frost and cold cutting winds is past. 
When disbudding the trees the young shoots for the follow¬ 
ing year’s crop are left, as a rule, on the upper sides of the 
branches, and all the others removed. The shoots as they 
grow are careful y laid in during the summer, and thinned 
when they have been left too crowded to allow of them 
having plenty of room to ripen well. 
The following are a few of the varieties of Peaches 
and Nectarines that are grown on the wall in the open 
air at Singleton. The wall I should say is 15 feet high, 
and the trees are planted at the distance of 20 feet apart, 
and completely cover it from base to top—Walburton 
Adm ruble, Alexander, Sea Eagle, Beatrice, Early Louise, 
Hale’s Early, Dr. Hogg, Bellegarde, and Elruge; Diamond 
and Humboldt Nectarines. It seems strange that Royal 
George Peach and Hunt’s Tawny Nectarine do not succeed 
on the open wall at Singleton.—A. Pettigrew, Castle 
Gardens, Cardiff. 
[Mr. Pettigrew’s communication suggests the inquiry 
whether the degeneracy of Peach culture in the open air 
is chiefly due to a permanent change in the weather in¬ 
juriously affecting the trees, or to a change of men and 
methods of culture. It cannot be denied that good Peach 
walls are much rarer now than they were thirty years 
ago; indeed, they are now so uncommon as to merit special 
notice when they happen to be seen, whereas they were 
once so frequent that a south wall minus Peach trees 
would have been a matter of comment among gardeners 
all over the south and midland counties, and even far into 
the north. One of the most successful examples of Peach 
culture on open walls that we have seen during recent 
years was at Oldlands in Sussex. 'J he trees were planted, 
trained, and fruited by Mr. Edward Luckhurst. We have 
seen no trees and crops even under glass to excel these ; 
but, and here is the point, we have seen equally good 
examples 200 miles further north. Especially remark¬ 
able, both as regards size, training, and productiveness, 
were the Peach trees at Redbourne Hall, Lincolnshire, as 
grown by Mr. Seymour. We know of no finer Peach 
trees under glass now than were there seen on open 
walls during the fourth and fifth decades of the present 
century. 
As an example of a garden in the midlands where 
Peaches are grown with exceptional success out ol doors, 
we may mention Charlcote Park, the seat of II. S. Lucy, 
Esq. A wall some hundreds of feet long, with a southern 
aspect, is there devoted to Peaches and Nectarines, and 
when we saw them last year the trees were in excellent 
health, well clad with growth, foliage, and fruit. 
Numerous varieties are grown, so that a long succession 
is obtained, and in September several trees were bear- 
No. 2003.—Von. LXXVL, Old Series. 
