"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 Kin[9] 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.