240 AMYGDALUS PERSICA. 



The second season, all the rniii will lijx-n tlircc or luur weeks too soon. Tlie 

 tree sometimes dies the next year after the appearance of the disease, and some- 

 times hnuers along with a feel)l(> lile for two or three yars. ' * * * # Soil, 

 whetlu'r of clay <r sand. wIuuIkm- moist or dry, whether cultivated or in grass, 

 manured or uinnaaured. does not appear to me, clearly, either to increase or 

 diminish the liahility to disease. Trees standing in exposed and sheltered situa- 

 tions, walled and in open ground, on hills and in valleys, seem alike and equally 

 liahle. * * * * * When the disease commences in a garden or orchard con- 

 taimuir a considerahle nundjer of trees, it does not attack all at once. It hreaks 

 out in imtrhes^ which are progressively enlarged, till eventually all the trees 

 hecome victims to the malady. ***** 1 took a hlossom from a diseased 

 tree, and applied the dust (pollen) to the blossom of a young tree in my gar- 

 den. The tree thus exposed to infection, showed no mark of disease, either 

 in that or tiie succeeding year. ***** 1 took some buds from a tree, 

 having symptoms of the yellows, and inserted part into peach, part into apri- 

 cot, and part into almond stocks. Some of the inoculations OjoIc well, but all 

 showed marks of disease the next season. The peach and almond stocks, with 

 their buds, died the second winter after inoculation. One apricot stock lived 

 five years, but its peach top grew, in that time, to be only about three feet 

 liigh. ***** In an orchard or garden, containing both old and young 

 trees, the young trees will generally be diseased first. ***** Peach-trees 

 budded on apricots, plums, and sweet almonds, are liable to the yellows. ***** 

 Most of the applications for the cure of the disease, have been made on the sup- 

 position that it was caused by the peach-worm. Such are ashes, scalding water, 

 charcoal, lime, salt, saltpetre, fish-oil, and urine. All of them have more or less 

 agency in excluding the borer, but are not all effectual, even for that purpose. 

 Some of them have seemed to promote, for a time, the growth of the trees, and to 

 give a deeper green to their leaves; but none that 1 have ever observed, have at 

 at all checked the progress of the yellows." The most effectual, and the only 

 remedy for this disease, hitherto discovered, is, on the first symptoms of decay, 

 to grub up the trees by the roots, and convert them at once into fuel. 

 . The principal other accidents to which the peach-tree is liable, are the splitting 

 of the limbs at the forks by excessive weight, or by high winds, and the bursting 

 of the buds and bark by severe frosts in open and wet winters. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the peach-tree is hard, compact, of a 

 roseate hue, and is susceptible of a fine polish ; but owing to its inferior size and 

 comparative scarcity, it is but little used in the arts, or for fuel, except in coun- 

 tries where other kinds of wood are rare. When obtained, however, of suitable 

 dimensions, it may be employed for similar purposes as that of the almond. A 

 colour may also be extracted from it called i^ose-pink. Its leaves yield, by distil- 

 lation, a volatile oil, of a yellow colour, containing hydrocyanic acid. Its bark, 

 blossoms, and kernels of the fruit, also possess the same poisonous property. 

 From the quantity of gum and sugar contained in the delicious pulp, the peach 

 is nutritious, and is employed as a desert, both fresh and preserved. From the 

 malic acid contained in its juice, it is slightly refrigerant, and if eaten in moder- 

 ate quantities, it is generally considered as wholesome ; but if taken too freely, 

 it is liable to disorder the bowels. When stewed with sugar, it may be given as 

 a mild laxative to convalescents. The kernels may be used for the same pur- 

 pose as those of the bitter almond. The leaves are sometimes employed by the 

 cook, the liquorist, and the confectioner, for flavouring, and they have also been 

 substituted for Chinese tea; but, as fatal consequences have sometimes followed 

 these uses, they should be looked upon with precaution. 



The preservation of peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, and other kinds of fruit, 

 in syrup, occupy a prominent rank in the industry and commerce of France and 



