Other references to the peach may be found in Book IX,6 The Odes of Wei, and Book XIII,7 The Odes of Kwei.

Superstitions and legends throw light on the antiquity of the objects with which they are connected. It is significant that the Chinese alone ascribe miraculous powers to the peach, their traditions of the properties of different forms of this fruit being both numerous and very ancient. M. Cibot, a French missionary among the Chinese, in a series of cyclopedic volumes on China, devotes a chapter to the peach in which, after describing the peaches of the country and giving a full discussion of methods of culture, he mentions numerous Chinese superstitions concerning this fruit. He writes:8

"The Chinese have for a long time preserved the history of the first ages either in their books or in their traditions. The oldest of their books have perished. They have saved only a part of their ancient national works on the great wars and general uprisings, and the original traditions, changed in a thousand ways, made into fables, finally corrupted by idolatry, are today only chaos; but this chaos is not without any ray of light. Many of these traditions, although disfigured, bear back too exactly to the marvelous tales of the lost books to be able to mistake the beliefs of the early ages. Thus, there are many traditions referring to the peach. Some call it the tree of life, others the tree of death. Peaches lengthened to a point, of large size, and colored red on one side, are regarded by the Chinese as the symbol of a long life. In consequence of these ancient national superstitions, peaches enter into all the ornaments of painting and sculpture. They are saved for the salute to the new year. Here are several ancient texts on the peach and its fruits:

From Chin-non-King: 'The peach 'Yu' signifies death and eternal life. If one has been able to eat it enough times, it saves the body from corruption till the end of the world.' From Chin-y-King: 'There is in the Orient a peach whose almond, eaten, makes eternal life.' From Chou-y-Ki: 'Whoever eats this fruit (the peach 'Yu' from the Koue-liou Mountain) obtains immortal life.'

Still other texts could be cited but I will merely remark that in all the peach is connected with immortality. Again we find that certain peaches can not be offered by the ancients in sacrifice, and that the premature blossoming of another peach signifies great calamities. To quote again: From Sin-lin: 'In the garden of Yang was the peach of death; whoever approached it must die.' From Fong-fou-teng: 'It is said in the book of Hoang-ti that two brothers found on a mountain a peach tree under which were a hundred demons to cause death to men.' From Lietchouen, on the subject of the evils which afflict the earth: 'the tree of Knowledge is the peach.'"

Very interesting and illuminating as to the age of the peach in China, is an account given by Dr. Yamei Kin9 who was asked by a member of the staff of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, United States Department of Agriculture, for information concerning the peach-blossoms. After describing the several kinds of blossoms borne by Chinese peaches, the writer gives some of the superstitions and legends which the Chinese connect with the peach.

"The ordinary name for pink is peach flower color, and notwithstanding the love of Chinese for color, it is used sparingly, in fact, owing to its being associated with the peach blossom, seems to have an unsavory significance, as I found when I came home one day with a pink satin brocade gown that I had just purchased. My people held up their hands in horror, and exclaimed it was a mercy that I did not intend to wear that here, it would only do for outside countries that did not know about peach flowers, which remarks led me to leave it in America when I came back, though it was a very lovely delicate color and one of my prettiest gowns.

The reason for this prejudice is owing to its symbolism. Just as the violet is considered in western lands to be the symbol of modest worth, so the plum is that of feminine virtue in China and the peach flower the opposite. Not even the beauty of its color, whether delicate pink or deep cerise, redeems it from this fatal significance. In order that there may be no possible opportunity for a 'peach flower heart' to spring up unawares in some girl of respectable family, it is not considered wise to plant a peach of any kind near the bed room windows of the court yards inhabited by the women, yet peach wands are supposed to be especially useful to beat off all evil spirits, only they must be plucked during a solar eclipse and a hole bored through one end for hanging up by, during a lunar eclipse, which perhaps accounts for their fewness, as during those times in the old days the people were generally busily occupied in beating gongs and firing off crackers to drive away the heavenly dogs which were supposed to be devouring those luminaries, and no one had time to think of making peach wands. The lucky possessor of an efficacious peach wand is supposed to be able to sleep at night with it under his pillow in full confidence that no evil spirits can harm him.

Taoism from early days has taken the peach as its particular fruit, signifying longevity, much as the apples of Hesperides were symbolic in the Grecian mythology.

Furthermore peach stones are often made into rosaries which are considered specially fine. There is a collection of tales by one Cornaby to be found in almost every library called 'A String of Peach Stones.' And a host of legends cluster around the tale of Sun, the stone monkey, eating the peaches of immortality stolen from the gardens of the genii, whereby he attains immortality. This theme is seen elaborated in many scenes, that decorate pottery, textiles, and congratulatory scrolls.

I wish that I were not tied down so much by tedious detail in the medical work, as there is a most interesting book that needs to be translated telling much of the folk lore of the peach interwoven with the plot, which is supposed to be the journey of Hsien tsang to bring back the sacred sutras of Buddha from India. It is said that this is an actual historic occurrence, but this tale is evidently semi-religious and allegorical, as well, combining in itself the characteristics of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Arabian Nights, if you can imagine such a mixture, yet giving graphic pictures of Chinese life in various phases that are as true as when the book was written.

One of the most charming legends of peach flower lore is that of the 'Peach Blossom Fountain,' an allegory written by T'ao Yuan Ming between A. D. 365-427, describing how a fisherman got lost one day and penetrating up a river finds himself in a creek bordered with many peach trees full of bloom, at the end of which he comes upon a small mountain in which is a cave which he traverses and enters on a new country where there is every sign of prosperity, every one is courteous to each other, kindliness and contentment prevail, but they wear the garb of the times of the First Emperor some five centuries previous and have been lost to the rest of the country ever since. The fisherman returns after a sojourn with them, and tells his fellow villagers of this wonderful country and stirs up so much interest that finally the governor of the province joins in the search for this wonderful country, but it is all of no avail and at last the fisherman realizes that he will never more see the peach blossom days of his youth with its rosy dreams and ideals that come but once in a lifetime."

Lastly, a significant fact suggesting the Chinese origin of the peach is found in the behavior of this fruit in America. The peach is more at home in North America than in any other part of the world unless it be China. Now, that there is a pomological alliance between eastern Asia and eastern America is well known. The remarkable relationship between the plants of the two regions was first set forth by Asa Gray and subsequent writers have added much to what he told us. The explanation lies, as all agree, in similarities in climate. Now, with this relationship of the wild and cultivated floras of eastern America and China in mind, the rapid acclimation and acclimatization of the peach in the United States are readily understood if we accept China as the habitat of this fruit. On the other hand, the natural plant-products of Persia find life anything but easy in eastern America.

There is but one further consideration before beginning the history of the peach as a cultivated fruit. Thomas Andrew Knight and Charles Darwin contended that the peach is a modified almond. This hypothesis would scarcely deserve consideration were it not for the high authority of the men who espoused it—the judgments of a Knight and a Darwin cannot be overlooked.

HAS THE PEACH COME FROM THE ALMOND?

In the light of evolution every plant has been preceded by another and since the peach and almond have many characters in common, one may have descended from the other. But as to which, if either, is the parent species it would seem idle to speculate with the shreddy and patchy knowledge we now possess of the descent of plants. Yet Thomas Andrew Knight, the greatest horticultural authority of his time and one of the leading experimenters of all time in this field of agriculture, maintained that the peach is a modified almond. His theory received the support of several of the leading English horticulturists of the last century and Darwin gave it credence to the extent of collecting data for its substantiation.

Knight believed that the almond and the peach constituted a single species and that by selection under cultivation an almond could ultimately be turned into a peach.10 He sought proof for his theory in hybridization and on a tree raised from the seed of an almond fertilized by peach-pollen produced a fruit with soft and melting flesh and in all characteristics more like the peach than the almond. This experiment, which in the light of our present knowledge of the laws of inheritance does not in the least illuminate the hypothesis with which Knight started, carried on in the medieval days of plant-breeding, convinced not only Knight in his belief that the peach may be bred from the almond but led others, even down to our own time, to accept the theory.

Thus, a writer, presumably Lindley, in The Gardener's Chronicle11 in 1856 says "we are justified in the conclusion that the Almond bears about the same relation to the Peach that the Crab bears to the Cultivated Apple." Later, in the same article, the descent is pictured as follows:

Another high authority in his time, Thomas Rivers,12 in 1863, held that peaches, if left to a state of nature would degenerate into thick-fleshed almonds and makes the positive statement that he has "one or two seedling peaches approaching very nearly to that state."

Darwin,13 in 1868, considers Knight's supposition at length and while he does not positively accept it, yet lends it his support by quoting several authors who put forth proofs in favor of it. His most positive statement in discussing the theory referring to facts regarding the origin of the peach is: "The supposition, however, that the peach is a modified almond which acquired its present character at a comparatively late period, would, I presume, account for these facts."

Carrière,14 one of the most eminent French pomologists of the last century, is the chief French champion of the theory that the peach came from the almond and devotes several pages in his estimable work, Variétés De Pêchers, in demonstrating that the one is a form of the other. His arguments, however, are but amplifications of those of Knight and Lindley though he cites more intermediate forms than either of the English writers—so many that they go far toward convincing one of the correctness of his views. There is the feeling, however, in the case of Carrière, in the light of present knowledge, that his botanical evidence is pushed a little too far for full credulity.

Knight, Lindley, Rivers, Darwin and Carrière, the men holding the theory whose opinions are most worthy consideration, fell into error, as we think, through attaching too much importance to likenesses in the fruits of the peach and almond and because they became confused in following the behavior of the two fruits under hybridization. As we shall show later in discussing the characters of the peach, this fruit differs from the almond in other characters than those of the fruit—characters not at all likely to be changed by cultivation and selection as would all those of the fruits. Knight's proof from hybridization was purely speculative. The fact that the peach and almond may be crossed, giving intermediate forms, nowadays would not be looked upon as proof that the two necessarily belong to one species. However, in the light of the knowledge in existence at the beginning of the last century regarding the crossing of plants, we need not apologize for the inference that Knight drew from his simple experiment.

Students of heredity would find almost conclusive proof that the peach is not a modified almond—a descendant, say, in this geologic period at least—in the fact that there is no recorded case of a peach fertilized by a peach producing an almond, or vice versa. If the relationship were at all close, if the two species had had a common origin even though in rather remote times, if they were nearly enough related readily to hybridize or be hybridized, it would be expected that now and then, as in the case of a nectarine, the peach would produce an almond or the almond a peach.

Geographical botany also opposes Knight's hypothesis, as De Candolle15 points out, for, as he plainly shows, the almond had its origin in western Asia, it being found truly wild in many parts of south-western Asia and having been cultivated many centuries before the peach was known in these regions. On the other hand, the almond was not known in China before the Christian era whereas the peach had been cultivated there at least 2000 years anterior to the introduction of the almond. With such widely separated habitats, the two fruits can hardly be considered as parent and offspring.

We cannot close our eyes to the patent relationships of the peach and the almond. That the two constitute but one species, as we now consider species, or that they bear the close relationship of the peach and the nectarine, probably no one now in high authority will concede. But for the weight of the names we have used, and the fact that the theory still finds supporters, Knight's hypothesis, the outcropping of a speculative mind in a speculative age, might have been overlooked or dismissed with a word.

THE PEACH IN ASIA

We must have more knowledge of the peach in Asia than the bare fact that it originated somewhere in the vast empire of China. We want, first, to know what the characters of the prototypal peach were. If we can get some idea of the original wild peach of China we shall know something of how this fruit has been improved by man and, perhaps, something of its future potentialities. Second, though not essential to this study, it will be profitable to peach-growers to inquire whether there are types of peaches still remaining in China that might be improved under western cultivation. If so, we want them, since our cultivated peaches are not free from faults, some of which we might get rid of by the interjection of new blood. It is now about seventy years since Robert Fortune, the adventurous English plant-collector, began dipping into the horticultural treasures of China; and recent explorations make plain that there are still riches in plants in that country—the fact that they can now be brought through the "open door," instead of as spoils to be smuggled out, makes it easier to obtain any new types of peaches that may now be found.

What were the characters of the prototypal peach in China? The few records that have come down through the ages do not enable us to form much of a picture of the primitive peach. But plants do not change quickly in China, for their orchard-cultivation is not as intensive nor selection as assiduously practiced as in western countries, so that we are warranted in assuming that cultivation for forty centuries has not greatly changed this fruit. Besides, it is probable that the wild forms, whether truly wild or reverted escapes from cultivation, now represent closely the original indigenous stocks of the peach. Luckily, we have trustworthy sources of information in regard to both the wild and the cultivated peaches as they now grow in China. We are at this time concerned, it should be said, only with the common peach, Prunus persica.

Fortune began botanical explorations in China in 1844, since which time one enthusiast after another, thirsting for botanical spoils and honors, has brought from eastern Asia and Europe to America, varieties and species of ornamental and agricultural plants. In the accounts of these exploring and collecting expeditions, there are many records of peaches, wild and cultivated, that are now growing in China and from these we may piece out a fair description of the original races of this fruit. The United States Department of Agriculture, through its agricultural explorers, collaborators and correspondents in the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, has given special attention to agricultural plants and from the accounts of the workers in this department alone, we can get a good picture of the peach of the Twentieth Century in China which, as we think, will represent very well the original stock from which all peaches have come.

It is now almost the unanimous judgment of scientists that the characters of plants are independent entities which are thrown into various relationships with each other in individuals and groups of individuals as varieties and species. This conception of unit-characters lies at the foundation of botanical and horticultural descriptions and of plant-breeding. It is more important, then, to know what the characters of Chinese peaches were and are than to attempt to describe in full the wild and cultivated peaches of China. In this, a horticultural study, it answers our purpose to consider chiefly the characters of the fruits.

The fruit-characters that differentiate races and varieties of cultivated peaches in America are ten, as follows: Downy skin; smooth skin; white flesh; yellow flesh; red flesh; flesh clinging to the stone; flesh free from the stone; shape more or less round; shape roundish but decidedly beaked; shape distinctly flat. Let us see by direct quotations from the workers in the United States Department of Agriculture how many of these ten fruit-characters are named in the wild and cultivated Chinese peaches of today.

Downy skin.—A downy skin is the normal condition of the peach. This character is found in all of the peaches to be mentioned in this discussion except those under the next heading.

Smooth skin.—"28963—From Samarkand, Turkestan."16

"A small nectarine of very firm flesh and of subacid flavor; red throughout; from a distance resembles a crab apple more than anything else. Said to come from Chartchui."

"2922717—From Samarkand, Russian Turkestan. A yellow clingstone nectarine of medium size; meat very firm and of medium sweet taste, not melting."

"3032518—From Khotan, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Dagatch. Fruits red, of medium size, clingstone."

"3033219—From Karghalik, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Anar-shabdalah. Fruits rather small, whitish pink in color, and of sweet, aromatic flavor. This is a medium-late ripener and a rare local variety."

"3033420—From Shagra-bazar, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Kizil-dagatch. Fruits small, red; medium early."

"3033521—From Upal, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Ak-tagatch. Fruits large, white; a late ripener; of good keeping and shipping qualities."

"3033622—From Yarkand, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Ak-dagatch. Fruits medium-sized, of white color; clingstone; late in ripening; of good keeping and shipping qualities."

"3034123—From Upal, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Kizil tagatch. Fruits large, red throughout; meat firm; of good keeping and shipping qualities."

"3035924—From Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan. A very large, red, clingstone nectarine; late ripener; can be kept for several weeks after being fully ripe."

"3064725—From Khotan, Chinese Turkestan. A nectarine called Togatch Moneck."

"3064826—From Guma, Chinese Turkestan. A small late variety of nectarine, white in color, of fresh, sweet taste and good keeping qualities."

White flesh.—"2711127—Chinese name Ta po tao. A large white peach, native in Shantung Province, China (Chefoo district)."

"3032428—From Khotan, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Ak-shabdalah. Fruits large, white, juicy, and aromatic; an early ripener."

"3033729—From Shagra-bazar, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Kok-shabdalah. Fruits medium large, of greenish-white color; taste sweet; medium late; not a keeper."

"3033830—From Yarkand, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Taka-shabdalah. Fruits very large, of whitish color with a slight blush; late in ripening; can be kept for several weeks."

"3033931—From Karawag, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Ak-shabdalah. Fruits large, white in color; flavor very sweet and pleasing; early in ripening."

"1716732—From Tung-chow. A large, white peach, considered a fine fruit by the Chinese. Non-melting flesh."

"2023933—From Kirin. A pale colored, medium-sized peach. Kirin is the most northern locality where I have as yet found peaches."

"2711134—Chinese name Tah-buy-tower. A large white peach native in Shantung Province, China."

Yellow flesh.—"3033335—From Shagra-bazar, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Serech-shabdalah. Fruits very large, of yellow color throughout; meat very firm; clingstone. Stands shipping well, but does not keep long; late in ripening (October)."

"3520136—From Mengtsz, Yunnan, China. Seeds of Mengtsz white peach and yellow free peach. This fruit is grown all over this province and occasionally attains an enormous size, and in that respect could easily compete with the best French peaches.'"

Red flesh.—"654337—From Sai Tseo. Long, rather pointed, red-fleshed, freestone."

"3427538—From Soochow, China. This is a mixed lot of peach seeds containing some from red clingstones and some from white freestones."

"1772839—From Matou. A peach described to me by the natives as very large, red meated, and juicy."

"2199140—From Hangchow, Chehkiang, China. A flat, red-meated peach, not very sweet in taste. Chinese name Hung pien tao."

Clingstone.—"3034041—From Karawag, Chinese Turkestan. A peach called Ais-shabdalah. Fruits large, pinkish-white; meat firm, sweet; clingstone. It is said here that it can be kept for several months."

"2198942—From Feitcheng, Shantung, China. The most famous peach of northern China, called the Fei tao. The fruits grow as heavy as one pound apiece and are pale yellowish colored, with a slight blush; meat white, except near the stone, where it is slightly red; taste excellent, sweet, aromatic, and juicy. Is a clingstone. Has extraordinary keeping and shipping qualities. The branches need propping up on account of the weight of the fruits."

"2999143—Seeds of a peach from Tsinanfu, Shantung, China. It is a cling and though rather inconvenient for eating, is very large and luscious, coming into market about the middle of September and lasting for a month or more."

Freestone.—"663544—From mountains near Ichang. Flowers late, fruit ripens in September. Freestone. Fruit small and quite hairy."

"3035745—From Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan. A large, red, freestone peach, fine flavored; a medium-late ripener, and a most prolific bearer."

"3035846—From Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan. A large, pale reddish, freestone peach of very fine flavor; medium-late ripener; not a keeper."

"3942847—Amygdalus sp.—Seeds of a wild peach from Sianfu, Shensi, China. Stones of the real wild peach, growing in the mountains, one day's journey south of Sianfu. The fruits are small, hard and sourish, but there is considerable variation in them as regards size and taste. They are apparently all freestones and while some have red flesh near the stone, others are white throughout."

Round peaches.—Roundness is one of the characteristics of the peach and it but labors the argument to give space to show that this character is found in Chinese varieties. All peaches mentioned in this discussion are round or roundish except those coming under the heading "flat."

Round and beaked.—"8331 to 833448—Eagle Beak peach from Canton, China. From orchard trees growing near the Great North Gate of Canton, at Ngau lan Kong, of the Ying tsui t'o or Eagle Beak peach. This variety resembles the Honey closely, except that the pointed tip of the fruit is more curved, according to Dr. J. M. Swan, of the Canton Hospital."

"980549—From Canton, China. Hung Wat tim. A variety of the 'Honey' type, reported to be good for preserves and not so sweet as the Ying tsui or Eagle Beak variety. It is medium early."

"2265050—Shanghai. These peaches are called the Honey peach, and I think are very fine."

Flat.—"654151—From Sai Tseo, above Hankow. Flat, freestone, ripens in May."

"654252—From near Sai Tseo, above Hankow. White, fine fleshed, flat, freestone, ripening the middle of May."

"654453—From Sai Tseo. Medium size, flat, freestone, ripening in May."

"654554—From Sai Tseo. Flat, freestone, quality very good. Ripens in June."

"2999155—Chinese Flat Peach. From Tsinan, Shantung, China. Called Feicheng. It is a cling and, though rather inconvenient for eating, is very large and luscious, coming into market about the middle of September and lasting for a month or more."

"3048256—From about 50 miles southwest of Tsinan, Shantung, China. Feicheng. Chinese flat peach. This is a large, luscious cling, very much esteemed by the Chinese."

"2199057—From Kianchau, Shantung, China. A flat, juicy, white peach of fine taste. Chinese name Pai pien tao."

"2199258—From near Chiningchou, Shantung, China. A flat, pale-fleshed peach, juicy but somewhat insipid."

"2235259—From Shifengtse Temple, west of Peking, Chihli, China. Said to be medium sized, very flat, and of reddish color. Chinese name Pien tau."

White stone.—"834060—From Canton, China. Pak Wat tim t'o. A slightly sweet, white stone variety of rather small size, preferred by some to the Ying tsui t'o, which, it is said, has too sweet a flavor. It has no beak like the latter, but is a typical south Chinese shape, according to Dr. J. M. Swan, of the Canton Hospital, who very kindly described this variety."

"2491561—Hung wat to (red-stone peach)."

"2491662—Paak wat to(white-stone peach)."

"The Hung wat to is a new variety and so recognized by the Chinese. From what I can gather they believe the Paak wat to to be the best, but have some trees of the Hung wat to. The Hung wat to seems to blossom much quicker than the Paak wat to."

Winter peaches.63—"The so-called winter peaches they have here are all clingstones, somewhat watery and not very fine in general."

"3034064—From Chinese Turkestan is said locally to keep for several months."

"Cuttings of nectarines from Chinese Turkestan. Among these are some from an altitude of 5000 feet, large, late ripeners, and keeping and shipping well, and one, number 30359,65 recommended by the British consul, Mr. Macartney, is said to keep for several weeks after being fully ripe."

"3048266—Cuttings of the Feitcheng peach from about fifty miles southwest of Tsinan, Shantung, China. It is a late variety, coming into market about the middle of September or October. It is reported to have such unusual keeping qualities, that it can be kept, when wrapped in tissue paper, until February. Though a cling stone it is luscious, sweet and aromatic, and of unusual size, reaching a pound in weight and is so prized by the Chinese that as much as 15 cents apiece is paid for it in the region where it is grown; every year the Feitcheng peaches are sent as a present to the Imperial court in Pekin."

The evidence given encourages the belief that in the native peaches of China may be found all of the characters that distinguish cultivated peaches wheresoever grown. The smooth-skinned peach, or nectarine, from the evidence at my command, is not common in eastern China but in Chinese and Russian Turkestan it is evidently one of the commonest fruits. Neither does yellow flesh appear to be a common character of peaches of eastern China but is now and again mentioned so that it may be put down as existing in the peaches of the region. Bear in mind that the accounts given are but random ones taken by persons not more interested in peaches than in other agricultural products and covering, of course, but a very small part of the vast region under the dominion of China. There is, no doubt, much to be learned about the peaches of Asia in future explorations.67

In America, at least, certain characters of peaches, as flatness, smooth skin, red flesh and prolonged beak are looked upon as comparatively new in this fruit. At any rate, varieties having these relatively rare characters are spoken of as sports and pomologists, as we shall see, not infrequently announce the date of birth of one or another of these characters. Now, a careful examination of the evidence, scant though it is, will carry conviction to all that none of the prominent characters of peaches have originated within the period covered by history—all exist in China and probably have so existed since time beyond record.

The size and color of the blossoms are distinguishing characters of races and varieties of cultivated peaches, less valuable in classification than the fruit-characters we have been discussing only because they are less numerous. Peach-blossoms fall into four very distinct kinds: Petals large and pink; petals intermediate in size and pink or red; petals small and red or reddish; and petals large and white. Through the United States Department of Agriculture, I am in possession of copies of nine letters from Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction correspondents of the United States Department in China who had been asked to report on the size and color of peach-blossoms in the parts of China in which they lived. The information thus obtained is most interesting but space forbids considering it further at present than to say that it indubitably establishes the fact that peaches with the four kinds of blossoms are found in China. This further encourages the belief, just set forth, that the essential characters of peaches are old, of great fixity and originated in China at a time in the past on which it would be idle to conjecture.

It is interesting to note that there are peaches in China with at least two characters not found in any American varieties. Two varieties are mentioned as having "white stones." There is no peach in America with stones that could be described as white though several early white-fleshed peaches have light-colored stones. This character is unimportant and seems, from the brief descriptions of the varieties having such stones, not to be correlated with other especially desirable characters, yet such a peach would, at least, add an interesting novelty to the flora of this fruit. The other character, that of late keeping, appears to have more value. A peach that would "keep for several months" or one ripening in September "that can be kept, when wrapped in tissue paper, until February," is highly desirable. No doubt through the efforts of the workers in the United States Department of Agriculture we shall sooner or later be growing these peaches in America.

As the probable home of the peach, we have given China so much space in this discussion of the peach in Asia that we can now but briefly summarize what is known of this fruit in other Asiatic countries.

The peach in Japan.—From Fruit Culture in Japan68 it is patent that the peach is one of the leading fruits of the country. In number of varieties of the several fruits grown in Japan the peach is exceeded only by the persimmon—ninety-five peaches and two nectarines being listed, all having Japanese names. The following account gives some idea of the peach-industry as carried on in Japan:

"There are a number of varieties of our native peaches and nectarines. From the extreme south of Formosa to Hokkaido, local forms are cultivated side by side with Western and Chinese varieties, which are all much superior to ours in all respects. During the past twenty years, the growing of introduced peaches has replaced the native one with striking rapidity. Their growing seems to be naturally limited in Hokkaido to the south part up to about 43 degrees N. L. The mid-season and late varieties do not properly ripen there and peach growing consequently does not develop to be a profitable industry in Hokkaido. Peaches are rather easy to cultivate and seem to be less susceptible to the effects of climate, than apples, provided suitable sites and soil be given. Consequently peach orchards are found scattered here and there all over the country. For the peaches there is no difference between the two longitudinal halves of Japan. At present, large orchards of peaches, regularly planted and trained, are found on the alluvial lowlands and hillsides. The heavy rainfall during June and July causes an overluxuriance of growth and considerable portion of the fruits drop down without reaching maturity. To prevent the damage from the parasites our people have learned through experience the important operation of bagging. On the loamy soils, good qualities of fruits may be attained, but the growers are accustomed to prefer light sandy soils to insure success. Sometimes rather dry hillsides give good results."

The peach in Turkestan and Persia.—We shall become too deeply involved if we attempt to trace the cultivation of peaches in all of the countries of Asia. A sentence each suffices for other regions than China and Japan, excepting Turkestan, where the peach seems preeminently at home, and must therefore have more than a word.

The peach is commonly grown in Mongolia and Cochin China.69 Several kinds of peaches are cultivated in the north of India.70 The peach requires the greatest care to ensure success in the north-east of India.71 A correspondent of the United States Department of Agriculture at Kashgar, British India, describes a nectarine grown there wanting "a hot but only a short summer."72 Meyer, Agricultural Explorer for the United States Department of Agriculture, found a variety of peach growing at Kirin, Mongolia, not far from Vladivostock, which he says "is the most northern locality where I have yet found peaches."73 These references might be multiplied but enough are given to show that the peach grows wild or cultivated wherever the climate permits in central and eastern Asia.

The peach seems to be quite as much at home, as highly prized and as commonly grown in Russian Turkestan, northern Persia, Trans-Caucasia and Asia Minor—the countries of western Asia—as in the eastern part of the continent. The Chinese early discovered trade routes over the mountains from the center of Asia to Kashmir, Bokhara and northern Persia. What more probable than that in remote times the seeds of peaches should have been carried westward from China and the peach thus have been introduced into western Asia where it at once found a congenial soil and climate. The peach-tree is so easily raised from the pit that its diffusion along routes of travel must have been very rapid.

Of many accounts of the peaches of this region, long and short, perhaps the following from Mr. Albert Regel gives, in the space to be spared, the best idea of the extent of the peach-region in western Asia and the races represented—races rather than varieties, for of the latter there must be legions since we are told the trees are grown from seed. Regel,74 a physician by vocation, lived in Turkestan for nine years and collected fruits and flowers as an avocation. He seems to have penetrated every nook and corner of Turkestan and adjacent regions. Of peaches and nectarines he says:

"Next to the pomegranate, the Asiatics prize the peach, and the Oriental poetry compares its lusciousness to the fruits of Paradise. The culture of the peach reaches its northern limit in the district of the Ili. The young plants, which, as throughout Asia, are grown from the seed, without grafting, suffer greatly there from frost and require careful covering; nevertheless the large, smooth, red and the rough, hairy, yellow fruit of the Chinese varieties develop excellent characteristics. According to the observations of the naturalist Wilkins, there are 40 varieties in the Kokan district, among them some Chinese ones. In the South the peach extends to Afghanistan and Tshotral; its proper home, however, is Northern Persia to the Caucasus. In Darvas the peach forms trees 30 feet high with broad tops. The rough-skinned giant peaches of the garden of Kalaichumb are of unsurpassed lusciousness and aroma, and most inviting bloom (tinting of the cheeks). They attain the size of an average apple. The fruitfulness of this variety is so great that the leaves seem to be concealed by the peaches. The Bokhariots prize the smaller rough skinned, and red cheeked variety at Tchaspak, which is distinguished by strong aroma and firm, almost astringent flesh. The yellow peaches are especially sweet. The number of rough-skinned kinds at Kalaichumb is considerable.

The smooth-skinned nectarines of this region, among which there are smaller, pale yellow varieties and very large red cheeked ones, are of unusually fine flavor and melting flesh; but they are equalled by the nectarines of Samarkand. There are also small sweet yellow kinds, which stand half way between the rough coated and smooth coated peaches. Such an one grows in the exposed region of Paendish. In Jasqulam, a small rough-skinned, red peach with astringent flesh and musky aroma flourishes. Roshan, the district of Barpaendsha, and Surshan on the lower Hund, produce later ripening and less valuable varieties, than the territory of the lower Paendish."

Another quotation shows the intensity of the orcharding in some parts of this favored land of fruits. In his chapter on the Zarafshan Valley, Schuyler says:75

"The gardens constitute the beauty of all this land. The long rows of poplar and elm trees, the vineyards, the dark foliage of the pomegranate over the walls, transport one at once to the plains of Lombardy or of Southern France. In the early spring the outskirts of the city, and indeed the whole valley, are one mass of white and pink, with the bloom of almond and peach, of cherry and apple, of apricot and plum, which perfume the air for miles around. These gardens are the favourite dwelling-places in the summer, and well may they be. Nowhere are fruits more abundant, and of some varieties it can be said that nowhere are they better. The apricots and nectarines I think it would be impossible to surpass anywhere. These ripen in June, and from that time until winter fruit and melons are never lacking. Peaches, though smaller in size, are better in flavour than the best of England, but they are far surpassed by those of Delaware. The big blue plums of Bukhara are celebrated through the whole of Asia. The cherries are mostly small and sour. The best apples come either from Khiva, or from Suzak, to the north of Turkestan, but the small white pears of Tashkent are excellent in their way. The quince, as with us, is cultivated only for jams or marmalades, or for flavouring soup."

West-central Asia, "the cradle of races," is, as well, the cradle of fruits and vegetables and he who would know more of its orchards, gardens and vineyards should read Schuyler's Turkestan and Lansdell's Russian Central Asia. We have quoted from the first-named book and now close the discussion of peaches in Asia by a few brief quotations from Lansdell, taking a few from many to bring out points worth noting. We usually think of flat peaches as belonging to southeastern Asia, yet Lansdell found them in west-central Asia:76 "Here we bought our first ripe grapes and nectarines. Apricots ripen at Kuldja at the beginning of July, and we were, therefore, too late for them, but of late peaches, that ripen early in August, we came in for the last, flat in form, about an inch and a half in diameter and half an inch in thickness. They tasted fairly well, but there was little flesh on the stone."

Nectarines, as we have mentioned before, seem to be especially plentiful in this region:77 "In the market (Vierny) we also bought grapes, and, still better, small but luscious nectarines, the latter for a halfpenny each, of which, as I sat over my writing at night, I ate so many as to alarm Mr. Sevier, whose medical instincts led him to fear for the consequences. All went well, however, and I never stinted myself from that time onward from Central Asian fruit, and I am thankful to say was not once inconvenienced thereby."

As throwing light on the wild fruits of this region, we have Lansdell's statement that there are whole forests of almond trees and many species of cherries, plums, apples, pears and apricots, but wild peaches are not mentioned.78

On another page we are told that peaches in Bokhara are of three varieties, red, white and green, and in a foot-note that they are grown as follows:79 "When sown, the stone is put in the earth two fingers deep, before the frosts set in; water is then let in and allowed to freeze; after that, earth is put over it and left till the following spring, when the young shoots are transplanted at intervals of four paces. The best peaches are said to come from Samarkand."

One is tempted to enlarge upon fruit-possibilities in these west-Asiatic valleys. Without much strain upon the imagination it is easy to conjure up visions of great fruit-industries in west Asia rivaling those of our own Pacific Coast when communications with European markets are opened and if the people now there or those who may migrate there begin to make use of their opportunities and to take advantage of the best that art and science now offer horticulture. In the event of such a development, peaches, fresh and dried, will not be the least of the products of the region.

THE PEACH IN EUROPE

One finds treasures of experience and inspiration for narrative in the history of the peach in Europe. But to present a systematic record of the peach as it traveled from country to country after its introduction into ancient Greece would require a volume and a long one, which, interesting and profitable as it might be, could hardly be justified in this work. Present purposes are best served by attempting only to point out the landmarks in the history and development of the peach from the time it left Asia until it reached America. The first landmark is in the introduction of the peach into Greece.

The peach in Greece.—As to the approximate date and the manner in which the peach reached Greece, there is now common accord among those who may be considered authorities on the history of fruits. Theophrastus (332 B. C.) was the first Greek to mention the peach, speaking of it as a "Persian fruit." It may be, of course, that the peach came to Greece from Asia Minor or Persia at an earlier date. One might well suspect that if peaches were growing in Persia at the time of the retreat of the Ten Thousand (401 B. C.), since the army must have traversed the country in which, according to some, the peach is native and at least had probably then been introduced, the taste of so pleasant a fruit would have inspired some soldier of the retreating Greeks to carry seeds to his western home. But Xenophon, historian of the retreat and a writer on agriculture as well as of war, does not mention the peach as he almost certainly would have done had it occupied a prominent place among the agricultural products of his time.

There is another story of the introduction of the peach into Greece that may be mentioned to separate fact from fable. Some of the old writers assert that the peach came to Greece from Persia by the way of Egypt. Such statements are founded on a traditionary tale first printed by Pliny to the effect that this fruit was sent into Egypt by the kings of Persia to poison the Egyptians. Pliny80 denies that the kings of Persia had the peach transplanted into Egypt from motives of revenge but evidently is under the belief that the peach came from Egypt for he says:

"As to the peach-tree, it has been only introduced of late years, and with considerable difficulty; so much so, that it is perfectly barren in the Isle of Rhodes, the first resting-place that it found after leaving Egypt."

We would like to amplify the bare statement that Alexander brought the peach to Greece 332 B. C., but this single fact, if it be a fact, seems to constitute the recorded history of the peach in Greece before the Christian era. Dioscorides, about 64 A. D., was the next Greek to mention the peach but he discusses it with reference to its medicinal properties and does not enlighten us greatly as to its horticultural standing. The fact that the several Greek writers whose books have come down to us from the period under consideration do not mention the peach does not argue that this fruit was not then growing in Greece; for classicists, then as now, seldom got down to earth and the things growing in it.

The peach in Italy.—Naturally one goes to the oldest book in Latin literature on agriculture to look for the beginnings of peach-culture in Italy. This, as every student knows, is De Re Rustica, a work on farming, gardening and fruit-growing by Cato (235-150 B. C.) on whom posterity has bestowed the appellation "Sturdiest Roman of Them All." Cato mentions most of our common orchard-fruits, as well as our field crops and garden-plants, but the peach is not in his list of fruits; neither does Varro (117-27 B. C.), the next great Roman writer on agriculture, seem to have known the peach though he mentions choice varieties of cultivated cherries, which at his time had but newly been introduced into Rome.

To Vergil (71-19 B. C.), we are indebted for the first reference to the peach in Roman literature. The "Prince of Latin Poets," writing on agriculture, orcharding and gardening, in the Georgics, mentions the peach in these graceful lines: