103 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 28, 1858. 
size: here they root more freely than in any hed, and if 
there is a had one among them, it rots there, and makes 
no gap in a bed or row. We never water them, or keep 
rain from them, or frost or snow either: some seasons 
they could be safely removed to the flower-beds as late as 
the middle of February, for it does not hurt a bulb the 
value of a straw, to be removed from place to place after 
it has made new roots, till the time above an inch of its 
.leaves are exposed to the sun aud air. Therefore, the 
safest and the best plan is, to put all the spring bulbs, 
which are out of the ground in summer, in the way of 
making roots as early as the beginning of September ; to 
make each kind with its proper name, or number; not to 
stint them too much for room ; and to leave them till the 
garden is cleared and cleaned at leisure, and after that to 
take advantage of the first mild, dry weather, to have 
them removed, and planted, on some approved system, 
into the flower-beds and borders, to open free space for 
their long, succulent roots, and to put in with them some 
of the light, rich stuff in which they had been first set, 
to make their roots in time. If this is done with ordi¬ 
nary care, no one need know, or could make out, at the 
blooming season, that all the bulbs were not planted in 
the beds in the first instance, and as early in the autumn 
as it was needful for them to be. There is nothing new 
in this plan. Many of the best gardeners have been 
obliged to adopt it long ago ; but there is not one out of a 
thousand who grows such bulbs now-a-days, who has had 
the slightest idea that he could be easily accommodated, 
or that the plan is most useful to the health of the bulbs 
themselves. I have known such bulbs to be lifted in 
May, when in the full vigour of their leaves ; then to be 
planted on their sides in the kitchen garden ; to be kept 
watered as long as the leaves remained green ; to have 
the dead leaves cleared off; and to let the whole stand in 
the ground the whole summer, and till the beds were 
ready for them, between Michaelmas and Christmas. 
D. Beaton. 
PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 
Having attended several exhibitions this summer,— in 
the character of judge,—I must confess to.astonishment at 
the general character of the Peaches and Nectarines 
which were exhibited. I must aver, that, on the average, 
they were finer twenty to thirty years since. So that, 
amidst all the progress in other fruits, which is con¬ 
siderable, there is certainly no advance here. I speak 
of them with regard to size, flavour, and colour. Of one 
thing we are assured, that it has been a most genial 
summer; certainly beyond the average, as to the Peach. 
I have been much struck with the want of colour in most 
samples : pale yellow Royal Georges are but a pitiful 
sight, when we look back on those noble dark-red fruits 
of a score, or more, years since. 
All this argues either improper soils, bad summer 
management, over-bearing, or insects. One or more of 
these, perhaps, combined. As I intend to offer any ob¬ 
servations on them which present themselves, my readers 
must excuse me, if my remarks appear somewhat de¬ 
sultory. 
It has been stated, of late, that Peaches and Nectarines 
succeed much better in the northern counties, than in the 
south ; and, as long as we do not go too far north, such 
statement may be correct. It is affirmed by some, that 
Lancashire is the best county ; and this success has been 
referred to saline matters. That they will succeed, and 
well, too, if rightly handled, in those parts, there is not a 
single doubt ; but I think I can show other reasons for it. 
Above all the enemies of the Peach, the red spider is, 
perhaps, the most to be dreaded; and this insect is known 
to thrive and increase in proportion to the dryness of the 
atmosphere, in its general conditions. And, surely, it 
requires no waste of ink to prove that the air of Lanca¬ 
shire and Cheshire is of a more damp character, on the 
average, than Surrey, Kent, or some other southern 
counties. That Peaches like a genial moisture, of a per¬ 
manent character, in the air, is beyond doubt, or why do 
we take such pains to syringe, aud otherwise apply 
moisture in our houses during the forcing process ? But 
it is not only a question of air moisture, but of root 
moisture also. There is much less rain, on the average, 
in the southern or south-eastern counties, than in those 
north-western; and, doubtless, those in the south are 
frequently subject to drought at the root. This is a con¬ 
dition peculiarly favourable to the spread of the spider, 
not only in Peaches, but with all plants and trees. That 
inveterate enemy, the aphis, or green fly, too, is fond of 
warmth; and I need not attempt to prove, that the 
average heat of Surrey or Berkshire is greater than that 
of Lancashire. I am of opinion, that many of the cul¬ 
tivators in the south do not provide proper soil for them. 
It is not rich composts that they require, but good, 
strong, and somewhat adhesive loam. We use such 
loams in the north; but loams for the south should be 
twenty per cent, more adhesive than those in the north. 
I hope the readers of The Cottage G-akdenek will not 
be alarmed at the use of the term adhesive. I do not 
mean clayey soils, which cannot be separated without im¬ 
mense difficulty, but real sound loams, which cohere 
sufficiently to prevent injurious effects from sudden 
droughts. Such a loam, with some half-decayed leaf soil 
blended, will grow the Peach in high perfection, pro¬ 
vided the subsoil is thoroughly drained. But if we make 
our soils two feet in depth over the platforms, the 
southern people should make theirs thirty inches. It is 
folly to adhere precisely to any given depth of soil that 
may be recommended in writing, like the depth of drains 
which some good people would have had ordained by Act 
of Parliament some years since : the depth of soils should 
be ruled by existing conditions—by the warmth of the 
climate, and the dryness of the subsoil in the locality. 
Much of the success in Peach culture depends on the 
annual management of the roots. They must be allowed, 
to roam to the surface, and not only that, but coaxed and 
nurtured when they get there. So that he who forbears 
to dig and crop over their roots, but, instead, spreads 
annually a coating of mulchy manure, is, of course, pur¬ 
suing a practice the very antipodes of he who digs and 
crops, and never concerns himself as to whether it is con¬ 
genial to the habits of the Peach to endeavour to produce 
surface fibres. And, surely, if we do not grudge a little 
manure annually, for a Cabbage plot, we need not 
refuse a little to the Peaches. Let it be well observed, 
however, that surfacing in this way is a very different 
affair from introducing a deal of manure in the soil at 
planting time. The latter we lose entire control over. 
Surfacing never promotes the production of watery spray. 
I may here ofler a few remarks on pruning these fruits. 
There can be little doubt that pinching, or stopping, is 
sadly neglected during the growing season, and that the 
principle might be pushed much farther than the practice, 
as commonly accepted. I am of opinion, that the old 
practice of disbudding is carried too far, and that few, but 
those shoots called robbers, should be entirely removed. 
The rest may be pinched to about two leaves, and it will 
be found that at the base of such shoots fine blossom 
spurs will be produced. Such shoots will, of course, 
sprout again; and they should be pinched as long as they 
continue to do so—merely the last growth, as they must 
not be allowed to extend further. 
It is well known to most, that the chief practice hitherto 
recognised in Peach management, has been to depend on 
the long annual shoots for the next year’s crop. But, 
from later observations, I feel tolerably well assured, that 
finer Peaches and Nectarines may be obtained from spurs. 
How this may be, I know not; but one fact, bearing on it 
in a collateral way, I may point to. It is well known, 
that young and luxuriant trees do not bear such fine fruit 
as those of more mature age and steady growth. Just 
