In planting peach-pits, art imitates and quickens nature. In nature the seeds are self-sown as they ripen, the succulent coat keeping the hard envelope containing the kernel from becoming stony so that the young plant bursts forth at the proper season. But in cleaning and drying seeds for sale and transportation, they become hard and dry and must be subjected to somewhat special treatment before planting. In mild climates the pits are soaked or kept moist in sand, earth or other medium until softened and are then planted in the fall in rows where the trees are to be grown. In cold climates the stones are subjected to freezing, thereby cracking them, after which the kernels are sown in the spring. To freeze, the seeds are placed in strata with moist sand, saw-dust, straw or other material supplying an abundance of moisture, and exposed to the freezing weather of winter which usually frees the kernel from its envelope. The kernels are then sifted from the stones and sand and sowed in rows four feet apart. Pits which the frost does not open must be cracked by hand, though this tedious operation is usually omitted by large nurseries. The seeds are planted in a rich, well-drained soil, preferably a light loam with good bottom. By late mid-summer in New York the stocks are ready to bud, though often the operation extends into September. The peach is universally budded in America, grafting being most difficult, though trees can be grown from root-cuttings. The method of budding is the common T, or shield-bud. The buds "take" in a week or two, but remain dormant until the next spring when the top of the stock above the bud is removed to give the cion right of way. At one year from the bud, two years from the seed, in northern climates, the trees are ready to be transplanted in the orchard. In the South and on the Pacific Slope, budding may be done in June, thereby saving a season. These "June buds," however, excepting under the most favorable conditions, in the East at least, are weaklings not nearly so desirable as "summer buds." Occasionally, more particularly in California, summer-budded stocks are planted in the fall or the next spring as "dormant buds." In New York, trees older than one year from the bud are seldom worth planting though occasionally it is necessary to save stocks until their second season before budding.