THE 
FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
PEACH A BEC. 
[Plate 458.] 
E are indebted to Mr. Coleman, gar¬ 
dener at Eastnor Castle, for tlie oppor¬ 
tunity of figuring this very fine early 
Peach, from samples sent in June last, accom¬ 
panied by the following note :— 
“ I have forwarded to you fruit of a most 
excellent early forcing Peach, called a Beg, 
which I obtained about fifteen years ago, 
through Messrs. Veitcli and Sons, from Mr. 
Rivers, by whom I believe it was introduced. 
I still look upon it as one of the very best 
early Peaches we have. The original tree, 
lifted and transferred to another part of the 
house in October last, is now (June 11) ripening 
off a heavy crop of fruit, at the rate of one to 
every square foot; consequently the peaches 
are quite 2 oz. lighter than usual. It ripens a 
fortnight later than Early Grosse Mignonne, is 
equal to Royal George in flavour, and the tree 
is a good grower. If you will place this fruit 
before your artist for representation in tho 
Florist, you will be conferring a boon upon 
peach-growers, and the trade, as it is but little 
known. I can very strongly recommend it either 
for forcing under glass, or for cultivation on the 
open wall.” 
The specimens received and represented in the 
accompanying plate, were of large size, roundish 
or rather depressed, somewhat irregular in out¬ 
line, with a shallow suture and little indication 
of a nipple. The skin was a pale straw-yellow, 
mottled with two shades of crimson w T here 
shaded, and dark crimson also mottled on the 
exposed side, the surface being distinctly downy. 
The flesh separates freely from the stone, and is 
tender, very juicy and melting, with a sweet 
rich and most agreeable flavour, the colour being 
white, with a faint tinge of red next the stone, 
which latter is small in comparison with the 
size of the fruit. 
This Peach, which, according to Dr. Hogg, 
originated at Ecully, near Lyons, belongs to 
the group which produces leaves with round 
glands, and flowers of the larger size ; the 
fruit, which is also large in size, is of first- 
rate quality. M. Thomas does not mention 
it in his recent Guide Pratique de l'Amateur 
de Fruits. The synonyms of Pourpree a Bee , 
and Mignonne a Bee belong to it.—T. M. 
HOME-GROWN ORANGES FOR DESSERT. 
GppN a recent number of the Florist and 
p Pomologist appeared a coloured drawing 
of the Tangierine Orange, with some notes 
on its culture, intended to draw attention to the 
pleasure to be derived from being able to pro¬ 
duce home-grown Oranges of excellent flavour 
for dessert purposes. 
We have grown Oranges in pots, and have 
fruited them successfully, for at least a dozen 
years. No fruit is more valued, not alone for 
its flavour, which has always been superior to 
any imported Oranges that could be obtained at 
the same time, but because of the interest that 
is attached to the trees themselves, loaded as 
they are with large fruit almost bursting with 
juice—indeed, we have had specimens of St. 
Michael’s that did ‘actually burst. At the 
present time, we have a tree of St. Michael’s 
No. 1. IMPERIAL SERIES.-XI. 
in a 13-inch pot which ripened its fruit— 
about four dozen in number—in December; 
they varied but little in size ; the largest were 
8^ in. in circumference, and weighed over 9 oz. 
each. This crop of fruit was set before the 
whole of the previous one was gathered in March 
last. We glow three varieties only, the Tan¬ 
gierine, St. Michael’s, and the Maltese Blood. 
The culture of these fruits is very simple. 
From the time the trees are started in February 
until the fruit ripens, as long a period elapses 
as is required for a house of Pine-apples or of 
Muscat Grapes. The temperature and atmo¬ 
spheric conditions of the Pine house suit the 
Orange-trees admirably. Ours are grown on 
the back stages in the Pine house, the plants 
being in pots of various sizes. 
The modus operandi of their culture may be 
B 
