SOME FURTHER POINTS IN PEACH CULTURE. 
137 
Thyrsacanthus rtjtilans, Planchon. Glittering Thyrsacanth.—Order Acanthace® (Acanthad tribe)._ A 
very fine stove sub-shrubby plant, with large, subsessile, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate leaves, and terminal or axil¬ 
lary pendent racemes of numerous flowers, which are tubular, slightly ventricose, a couple of inches long, and of 
a brilliant crimson scarlet. It must be a very fine stove plant. It appears to have been introduced by M. 
Linden, from Colombia, and is figured in M. Yan Houtte’s I lore des Serves. 
SOME FURTHER POINTS IN PEACH CULTURE. 
^|7HAT is more common in gardens than to see hide-bound trees, the stems most disproportionate in 
***** size, that part above where they were worked being half as large again as the stock ? Can this he 
remedied ? I think so ; at least, I have frequently succeeded to my satisfaction, in the following 
manner:—The first spring, soon after the trees commence growing, take a knife, and run it from the 
point where it was budded to the ground, cutting into the wood; as soon as the young wood is seen 
to fill up this incision, make a similar one on either side. By continuing to make two or three 
incisions in the stem each succeeding year, it will he found that the stock will swell proportionately 
with the worked part of the stem. These incisions are to he made at the back of the stock. The 
third season the tree will require the same attention as to stopping and pruning, &c.; and this must 
be fallowed up as long as they continue to make strong growth (see p. 125). In a general way this 
will not e oftener than twice in the season, excepting in case of a very strong tree, which may require 
it thrice. By the end of the third season the trees will have attained a large size, and their subse¬ 
quent management any gardener of moderate capacity will understand. Cleanliness, that great 
preservative of health, is no less necessary to their well-being, than to the general health of the 
human race. • V e often hear that the Peach will not succeed in this or that garden. How is it 
possible that it should succeed, or grow, or even live, where no proper preparation has been made for 
it ? There may be situations where the Peach will not thrive, but they have never come under my 
notice ; and my decided opinion is, that there is no garden, however bad, in which the Peach and 
Nectarine might not be well grown , provided the borders have been all prepared, and the nature and 
depth of the soil used, having regard to situation and climate, properly taken into account—for, in a 
damp climate they will not require so great a depth of earth as in a dry, hot one. The great point is 
to feed the plant according with the climate. As well might we feed the inhabitants of the northern 
latitudes with the same food as the inhabitants of the Equator, as suppose that the Peach or Nectarine 
under the burning sun of Persia or America, require the same food as when planted in the wet soil 
and damp climate of England. In the former cases, should the tree be planted in a rich soil it is of 
little consequence, from the great demand made upon the foliage, by the intense light and burning 
heat causing respiration and digestion to go on freely: but, in the latter, should the tree be unfortu¬ 
nate enough to get into a rich or deep soil, the functions of the leaves being performed less freely, the 
system becomes gorged, sickness commences, canker, gum, blistered leaves, insects, &c., follow, 
carrying off the tree, branch by branch, until the whole disappears in the vortex of decay. 
To prolong the fruit season in large establishments is a consideration of no little importance, as it 
v" 
is to preserve the fruit from the ravages of wasps and other insects in all. Various expedients have 
been resorted to. That which I have found most suitable, and which, under all circumstances, I 
strongly recommend, is a wasp-net, which I have direct from the manufacturer, in pieces fifty-one 
yards long by two and a-half wide, at three shillings per yard. To prolong the Plum season, these 
nets will be found to answer admirably, admitting, as they do, abundance of light and air, and being, 
at the same time, a barrier against the encroachments and depredations of all insects. I have found 
them particularly useful for the Green Gage and Coe’s Golden Drop, which latter I have had hang on 
the trees long after the leaves had fallen; but in this case the nets were occasionally unnailed at the 
bottom, and the leaves shook out to prevent their rotting the nets. With care these nets will last ten 
or twelve years, but they must be well dried when put away, and kept in a dry, airy situation.— 
Thomas Hatch. 
