274 HORTICULTURE [FRUITS. Peach trees require protection, especially at the period of blos soming, particularly in the north of England and in Scotland. Canvas or bunting screens are most effectual. By applying these early in the season, great benefit may be derived from retarding the blossom till the frosty nights of spring have passed. Wooden and glass copings are also very useful in warding off frosts. Forcing. The priming and training of the trees in the peach house do not differ materially from the methods practised out of doors. It may also be stated here that when occasion arises peach trees well furnished with buds may be transplanted and forced immediately without risking the crop of fruit, a matter of some importance when, as sometimes happens, a tree may accidentally fail. In the forcing of peaches fire heat is commonly applied about December or January ; but it may, where there is a demand, begin a month sooner. At first the house should be merely kept closed at about 45, but the heat should gradually increase to 55 by the time the trees are in flower, and to 60 when the fruit is set, after which the house should be kept moist by sprinkling the walls and paths, or by placing water troughs on the return pipes, and the temperature should range from 65 by day to 70 or more with sun heat. After the fruit has set, the foliage should be refreshed and cleansed by the daily use of the syringe or garden engine. When the fruit has stoned, that is, as soon as the kernels have been formed, the temperature should be raised to about 60 as a minimum, and to 70, with 75 by sun heat, as a maximum. Water must now be copiously supplied to the border, and air admitted in abundance. After the end of April little fire heat is required. When the fruit begins to ripen, syringing must be discontinued till the crop is gathered, after which the syringe must be again occa sionally used. If the leaves should happen to shade the fruit, not only during the ripening process, but at any time after the stoning period, they should be gently turned aside, for, in order that the fruit may acquire good colour and flavour, it should be freely ex posed to light and air when ripening ; it will bear the direct rays of the sun, even if they should rise to 100. The trees often suffer from mildew, which is best prevented by keeping the borders of the peach house clear and sufficiently moist, and the house well ventilated. The following are some of the best peaches and nectarines, arranged in the order of the times of their ripening : Peaches. Early Beatrice e. July. Early Louisa e. July. Frogmore Golden e. July. Hale s Early b. Aug. Rivers s Early York b.m. Aug. A Bee m. Aug. Washington Rathripe ,m. Aug. Early Silver m.e. Aug. Crawford s Early. . . f lb. j e. Aug. | b. Sept. Grosse Mignonne Premier . ( e. Aug. | b. Sept. Royal George { b. fe Bellegarde b.m. Sept. Belle Bauce m. Sept. Dymo nil m. Sept. Late Admirable m.e. Sept. Desse Tardive | ^ Walburton Admirable . . - * Nectarines. Lord Napier ............. b. Aug. Rivers s White ............ m. Aug. Murrey ................... e. Aug. Pitmaston Orange -I A " Violette Hative { ? ^ Welbeck Seedling | A ^ 1 S- Victoria (under glass) Sept. Pine apple. b. Sept. Stamvick Elruge b. Sept. Albert Victor m.e. Sept. Stamvick (under glass) . - . .m.e. Sept. 130. The Pear has originated in part from the wild species, Pyrus communis, and in part from other species of the genus, including P. sinensis from China, P. Achras from Southern Russia, P. Sinai from Syria, and P. salicifolia from the Caucasus. It may be readily raised by sowing the pips of ordinary cultivated or of wilding kinds, these forming what are known as free or pear stocks, on which the choicer varieties are grafted for increase. For new varieties the flowers should be fertilized with a view to combine, in the seedlings which result from the union, the desirable qualities of the parents. The dwarf and pyramid trees, more usually planted in gardens, are obtained by grafting on the quince stock, the Portugal quince being the best ; but this stock, from its surface-rooting habit, is most suitable for thin shallow soils, or for those of a cold damp nature. Some of the finer pears do not unite readily with the quince, and in this case double working is resorted to ; that is to say, a vigorous-growing pear is first grafted on the quince, and then the choicer pear is grafted on the pear ir t- oduced as its foster parent. In selecting young pear trees for walls or espaliers, some persons prefer plants one year old from the graft, but trees two or three years trained are equally good. The trees should Ve planted im mediately before or after the fall of the leaf. The wall trees require to be planted from 25 to 30 feet apart when on free stocks, and from 15 to 20 feet when dwarfed. Where the trees are trained en pyra- fnide, or en qucnouille (see figs. 78, 79), they may itand 8 or 10 feet apart, but standards in orchards should be allowed at least 30 feet, and dwarf bush trees half that distance. In the formation of the trees the same plan may be adopted as has already been described as suitable for the apple (par. 116). For the pear orchard a warm situation is very desirable, with a soil deep, substantial, and thoroughly drained. Any good free loam is suitable, but a calcareous loam is the best. The late Mr Rivers recommends that pear trees worked on the quince should have the stock covered up to its junction with the graft. This is effected by raising up a small mound of rich compost around it, a contriv ance which induces the graft to emit roots into the surface soil, and also keeps the stock from becoming hard or bark-bound. The fruit of the pear is produced on spurs, which appear on shoots more than one year old. The mode most commonly adopted 01 training wall pear-trees is the horizontal (see figs. 80, 81). For the slender twiggy sorts the fan form is to be preferred, while for strong growers like Gansel s Bergamot, the half-fan or the hori zontal is more suitable. In the latter form old trees are apt to acquire an undue projection from the wall, and become scraggy, to avoid which a portion of the old spurs should be cut out annually. The summer pruning of established wall or espalier-rail trees consists chiefly in the timely displacing or rubbing off of the super fluous shoots, so that the winter pruning, in horizontal training, is little more than adjusting the leading shoots and thinning out the spurs, which should be kept close to the wall, and allowed to re tain but two or at most three buds. In fan-training, the subordi nate branches must be regulated, the spurs thinned out, and the young laterals finally established in their places. When horizontal trees have fallen into disorder, the branches may be cut back to within 9 inches of the vertical stem and branch, and trained in afresh, or they may be grafted with other sorts, if a variety of kinds is wanted. Summer and autumn pears should be gathered before they are fully ripe, otherwise they will not in general keep more than a few days. The Jargonelle, as Forsyth rightly advises, should be allowed to remain on the tree, and be pulled daily as wanted, the fruit from standard trees thus succeeding the produce of the wall trees. In reference to the Crassane, Mr G. Lindley recommends gathering the crop at three different times, the first a fortnight or more before it is ripe, the second a week or ten days after that, and the third when fully ripe. The first gathering will come into eating latest, and thus the season of the fruit may be considerably prolonged. It is evident that the same method may be followed with other sorts which continue only a short time in a mature state. The varieties of pears are very numerous, while comparatively few sorts are required in any ordinary garden. The following is a small selection of good sorts which do well in the climate of Britain, and they are arranged according to the months when they are commonly in use, a period which, however, varies considerably in different seasons: Dessert Pears. Doyenne" d Et6 .July. Mare chal de Cour .Oct., Nov. Beurre de 1 AssOmption. . Aug. Pitmaston Duchesse |_ Oct., Nov. Souvenir du Congres .Aug., Sept. Althorp Crassane .Oct -Dec. Williams s Bon Chretien . Aug., Sept Sept. Thompson s . Nov. Sept. Passe Colmar Beurr6 Superlin Sept. Oct. Winter Nelis . Nov. -Feb. Fondante d Autonme . . . . Sept. Oct Chaumoutel .Nov.-Mar. Oct Oct. Glou Morceau . Louise Bonne of Jersey. . Seckel .Oct. .Oct. Huyshe s Victoria Monarch Dec., Jan. .Dec., Jan. Belle Julie .Oct. Oct Nov. Nov. Zephirin Gre goire .Dec., Jan. Doyenne du Cornice Duchesse d Angouleme. . .Oct. . Oct Nov. Nov. Josephine de Malines Easter Beurr6 .Jan., Feb .Jan. -Apr Oct Nov Marie Louise .Oct. Nov. Nouvelle Fulvie .Feb., Mar. Besi d He ry Oct.-Jan. Black Worcester Nov.-Feb. Flemish Bon Chretien. . . . Nov.-Mar. Verulam. . . ... Nov.-Mar. Kitchen Pears. Bellissime d Hiver Nov.-Apr. Catillac Dec. -Apr. Winter Franc Real Jan. -Mar. Uvedale s Saint Germain. .Jan. -Apr. 131. The Pine-apple, Bromelia Ananas, or Ananassa sativa, Pine- requires for its cultivation a tropical climate similar to that of the applf West Indies a mean temperature of 70 at the coldest and of 83 at the warmest season, with a range of about 10 between the night and day temperature. It also requires a supply of heat, averaging about 90, to the soil in which the roots are placed, and hence it is grown in a hot-house, where it can be supplied with bottom heat, by being plunged in a bed of fermenting material, such as tanner s bark or decaying leaves, or by hot water applied either in pipes passing through hollow chambers, or shallow hot-water tanks placed beneath the plunging beds. The heat arising from violent fermenta tion is, however, greater than the tender roots can bear, and if great watchfulness be not employed, the labour of many months may be wasted in a single day. Bottom heat should not exceed 95, and may
be brought down when active growth is not required to about 75.
