86 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
the greenhouse or conservatory. It will probably also prove useful for hybridising. 
The thanks of plant-lovers are therefore due to Messrs. Veitch for the increased 
pleasure this plant is capable of affording them.—T. Moore. 
THE CULTUKE OF WALL FEUITS. 
Chapter IX.— The Peach and Nectarine {continued). 
arrived at a stage in the management of both the roots and 
branches beyond which all previous observations will apply for a series 
of years, as the only difference will consist in the natural annual ex¬ 
tension in size; and the practice of training-in bearing wood to keep 
the trees well furnished must be followed up in the manner advised for younger 
trees. But here I must throw out an admonitory hint with regard to the crop¬ 
ping of the trees, as their longevity and well-doing will very greatly depend upon 
the manner in which this important part of fruit-tree management is regulated. 
The evils attendant upon overcropping are singularly apparent in the case of 
the Peach and Nectarine, which at the best have only a tender constitution in 
this country; and being at the same time, under favom’able conditions, very 
generous in fruit-bearing as they approach their prime, the temptation to take 
more fruit than is good for the continued healthy action of the growth, is very 
great; but it should by all means be resisted, or the foundation will be laid of a 
premature decay of the tree. Although we are taught by experience that, as a 
general rule, the Peach is not a long-lived tree in this country in the open air, 
even in those parts of it which are found to be most suitable for its growth, yet 
I have no doubt whatever that decay is very often induced and accelerated by 
overcropping. In the younger stages the trees are naturally very vigorous in 
growth, and what at an advanced age we should call overcropping, is at that 
time, one of those restrictive means at our command by which we are enabled to 
maintain some degree of control over the vigour of the trees ; but there comes a 
time when the situation is reversed, and the tree, instead of being over-vigorous, 
will only throw out smaller but very fruitful wood. This is the time when it 
becomes dangerous to take too much fruit, and hence the necessity for encourag¬ 
ing the growth of the wood becomes obvious, and by a parity of reasoning 
the necessity for greatly reducing the amount of fruit taken from them. This, 
as I conceive, is what is intended by practical cultivators when they inculcate 
the necessity for maintaining the balance of the trees, which cannot be maintained 
if either fruit is taken in excess or a vigorous growth allowed to remain un¬ 
checked. 
As a further inducement to avoid overcropping, we should take into con¬ 
sideration another fact connected with the subject. Our great object in all the 
manipulations which we have heretofore had under consideration terminates at 
one point, viz., the production of a fair supply of fruit, and it would be a matter 
for regret if, after the expenditure of so much time and labour, that fruit should 
not be the best of its kind. Yet how often do we see that such is not the case, 
