453 
they must be sown either in October or November, or these must be preserved in sand until 
February or March. The soil should be light, and the stones should be sown two inches deep. 
All the different kinds of Teaches have been originally obtained from the stones; so that where 
persons have garden enough to allow room for propagating these fruits from seeds, there is no doubt 
but many good sorts may be obtained, which will be better adapted to our climate, than such as 
are brought from warmer countries; there will be many of them good for nothing, but if we can 
obtain only two or three valuable sorts, it is sufficient to make amends for the trouble of raising 
them; but great regard should be had to the sorts; and if the fruits were permitted to remain 
upon the trees until they dropped off, the kernels would be fitter for planting, and more likely to 
grow. The best sorts for sowing are those whose flesh is firm, and cleaves to the stone; and from 
amongst these you should choose such as ripen pretty early, and have a rich vinous juice. 
These stones should be planted in autumn, on a bed of light dry earth, about three inches deep, 
and four inches asunder; and in the winter the beds should be covered to protect them from the 
frost, which, if permitted to enter deep into the ground, will destroy them. In the spring, when the 
plants come up, they should be carefully cleared from the weeds, which should also be preserved 
throughout the summer: and if the spring should prove very dry, if you refresh them now and then 
with a little water, it will greatly promote their growth. In this bed they should remain till the 
following spring, when they should be carefully taken up, so as not to break their tender roots, and 
transplanted into a nursery in rows three feet asunder, and one foot distant plant from plant in the 
rows, observing to lay a little mulch upon the surface of the ground about their roots, to prevent its 
drying too fast; and if the spring should prove very dry, you should give them a little water once a 
week, until they have taken root; after which they should be constantly kept clear from weeds, and 
the ground between the rows carefully dug up every spring to loosen it, so as that the tender fibres 
may strike out on every side. 
In this nursery they may continue one or two years, according to the progress they make; after 
which they should be transplanted where they are to remain, to produce fruit. 
In removing these trees, you should observe to prune their downright roots, if they have any, 
pretty short, and to cut off all bruised parts of the roots, as also all the small fibres, which generally 
dry, and when left upon the roots after planting again, grow mouldy and decay, so that they are 
injurious to the new fibres which are shot out from the roots, and very often prevent the growth of 
the trees; but you should by no means prune their heads, for the plants which are produced from 
stones, are generally of a more spongy texture; and so more liable to decay when cut, than those 
which are budded upon other stocks. Besides, as these trees are designed for standards (for it is not 
proper to plant them against walls, until you see the produce of the fruit, to shew which of them 
deserves to be cultivated,) they will never require any other pruning, but only to cut out decayed 
branches, or such as shoot out very irregular from the sides, for more than this is generally very 
injurious to them. 
In planting these trees, it will be the better way to dispose them singly in the quarters of the 
kitchen garden, where they will thrive, and produce fruit, much better than if they were planted 
near each other in rows; and as they are thus singly disposed, they will not do much injury to the 
crops which grow under them. 
When they have produced fruit, you will soon be a judge of their goodness, and such of 
them as you dislike may be destroyed; but those which are good, may be propagated by inocu¬ 
lating them upon other stocks, which is the common method now practised to propagate these 
fruits. 
5 Y 
