For more than two thousand years stories have been rife of the poisonous properties of peach-pits and peach-leaves. In a careful perusal of peach-literature for this period and in several languages we have not found a single case cited of fatal results to man or beast from eating the leaves or kernels of peaches. No doubt these stories arise from common knowledge that parts of the peach, as the kernels and possibly the leaves, contain prussic acid though in so minute quantities as never to be toxic in any quantity likely to be eaten by humans or animals. No doubt, too, the myth that the Persians sent the peach to the Egyptians as a deadly poison is still perpetuated. The wood of the peach is fine-grained and takes a beautiful polish and in Europe is used somewhat in cabinet-work and toy-making. Its numerous reddish-brown veins make it a most beautiful wood but the trees seldom attain sufficient size to give the species value as a lumber-product. The peach is attractive to the eye at all seasons. A tree or an orchard in bloom is a strikingly beautiful sight while a panorama in a peach-country in flowering-time is one of the most beautiful scenes in nature. There is a great difference in the floral beauty of varieties, some sorts having very inconspicuous flowers while others rank with our finest ornamentals when in bloom. Several types of _Prunus persica_ are planted for beauty of flower and foliage but the fruit-producing peaches are almost never planted for landscape effect though their peculiarly sunny expression in leaf and flower, one of the best types of cheerfulness among trees, should make them useful either standing alone or in mass for ornamental planting. Those who have seen the wild wayside peaches of Kentucky or Tennessee in bloom will always think of the species as an ornamental as well as a fruit-tree. PEACH-YELLOWS