fessor Chapman states[660] that he has often seen in Virginia very
old peach-trees bearing nectarines.

A writer in the 'Gardener's Chronicle' says that a peach-tree planted
fifteen years previously[661] produced this year a nectarine between
two peaches; a nectarine-tree grew close by.

In 1844[662] a Vanguard peach-tree produced, in the midst of its
ordinary fruit, a single red Roman nectarine.

Mr. Calver is stated[663] to have raised in the United States a
seedling peach which produced a mixed crop of both peaches and
nectarines.

Near Dorking[664] a branch of the Teton de Venus peach, which
reproduces itself truly by seed,[665] bore its own fruit "so remarkable
for its prominent point, and a nectarine rather smaller but well formed
and quite round."

The previous cases all refer to peaches suddenly producing nectarines,
but at Carclew[666] the unique case occurred, of a nectarine-tree,
raised twenty years before from seed and never grafted, producing a
fruit half peach and half nectarine; subsequently it bore a perfect
peach.

To sum up the foregoing facts: we have excellent evidence of
peach-stones producing nectarine-trees, and of nectarine-stones
producing peach-trees,--of the same tree bearing peaches and
nectarines,--of peach-trees suddenly producing by bud-variation
nectarines (such nectarines reproducing nectarines by seed), as well as
fruit in part nectarine and in part peach,--and lastly of one
nectarine-tree first bearing half-and-half fruit, and subsequently true
peaches. As the peach came into existence before the nectarine, it
might have been expected from the law of reversion that {342}
nectarines would give birth by bud-variation or by seed to peaches,
oftener than peaches to nectarines; but this is by no means the case.

Two explanations have been suggested to account for these conversions.
First, that the parent-trees have been in every case hybrids[667]
between the peach and nectarine, and have reverted by bud-variation or
by seed to one of their pure parent-forms. This view in itself is not
very improbable; for the Mountaineer peach, which was raised by Knight
from the red nutmeg peach by pollen of the violette hative
nectarine,[668] produces peaches, but these are said _sometimes_ to
partake of the smoothness and flavour of the nectarine. But