2:^8 AMYOPAIAS PKRSICA. 



IMuladt'lpliia Society for pn)ni<)tiiiir Ai;iiriilturo,' thai lie had 'tailed in many 

 thin:^s, in whieh others are said to liave succeeded. Straw and hass, or paper, 

 snrronndinc; the tree, from tlie root, at all distances, from six incites, to three or 

 fonr leet. white-washinir. ])aintinir. urinous aji|)li('ations, hriiie. soot, lime, frames 

 lilled with sand, oil, tar. turpentine, sulphuric acid, nitrous mixtures, and almost 

 every kind of eoatiuiz. 1 ruined several trees, by cutting them down, and per- 

 mittiiij; the stump to throw up new shoots, and branch at pleasure. All tegu- 

 ments kept the exudation from evaporating with freedom. The pores being 

 closed, or too open, were alike injurious, 'reguments of straw or bass, made 

 the bark tender; and it threw out, under the covering, sickly shoots. The more 

 dense coating stopped the perspiration. The oil invited mice, and other vermin, 

 Avliich ate the bark thus prepared for their repast, and killed the tree. I platited 

 in hedge-rows and near woods I i)ave(l, raised hillocks of stone 1 have sullered 

 them to grow from the stone only, grafted on various stocks, and budded, hilled 

 up the earth in the spring, and exposed the butt in the fall sometimes I have 

 used the knife freely frequently have left the tree to shoot in every direction I 

 have scrubbed the stocks or trunks with hard brushes, soap-suds and sand, 

 scraped them with proper instruments ; I have, for a season or two, under vari- 

 ous experiments, amused myself with the persuasion, that I had discovered an 

 infallible panacea. 1 had temporary success, but final disappointment."' " I 

 remove the earth, a few inches round the tree in August or September, pour 

 around the butt, beginning about one foot above the ground, a quart or more, 

 (not being nice about the quantity.) of boiling-hot soap-suds or water. This 

 kills the d^^. or worm lodged in the tender bark; and of course prevents its rav- 

 ages the next season. I carefully search the trees, though I seldom find worms. 

 I do not perceive any injury i'rom this operation. I have discovered worms in 

 or near the roots of the smallest stocks taken from the nursery. These I fre- 

 quently plunge into boiling water, before planting. I lose very few; and do not 

 attribute the losses to the hot water." 



The peach-tree also sometimes suffers severely from the attacks of leaf-hop- 

 pers, {Thrips.) as well as from those of the true plant-lice {Aphides.) They 

 are found beneath the leaves, in small cavities produced by their irritating punc- 

 tures, and are so small that they may readily escape notice. These minute 

 insects have very slender bodies, and narrow wings, which are fringed with fine 

 hairs, and lie close to their backs when they are at rest. They are exceedingly 

 active, and appear to leap, rather than fly, when they move. The plant-lice, 

 likewise live under the leaves of the peach, causing them, by their punctures, to 

 become increased in thickness, to curl or form hollows beneath, and correspond- 

 ing crispy and reddish swellings above, and finally to perish and drop off prema- 

 turely. The depredations of these lice is thought to be one of the causes, if not 

 the only cause, of the peculiar malady affecting the peach-tree in the early part 

 of summer, known under the name of "blight."* The most efficacious means 

 employed for the destruction of the thrips and aphides are fumigations of sul- 

 phur, tobacco, or other acrid substances, and throwing into the trees, with con- 

 siderable violence, warm solutions of tobacco and water, soap-suds, and even 

 pure water. 



The fruit of the peach-tree is punctured in an early stage of its growth, by a 

 small, rough, dark-brown beetle, {Cnrcidlo nejwpha?', Herbst,) for the purpose 

 of depositing her eggs, and thereby providing for her future progeny. When a 

 peach is stung by these beetles, a small drop of gum may be seen oozing from 

 its surface. The larvse consist of little whitish grubs, which bore into the fruit, 

 and cause it to fall before it is mature. For a further account of this insect, the 



* Harris' Report, pp. 187 et 192. 



