THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE. 17 



which are mostly subject to it in the month of April and May; and when 

 attacked, it is not until the latter part of the season, if at all, that they become 

 healthy. The leaves so attacked iire crisp, and assume a swollen, crumpled, 

 and succulent appearance; the shoots themselves are affected by it in the 

 same manner, and never produce either good blossom or healthy wood. It is 

 probably occasioned by the sudden contraction or destruction of the vessels, 

 and extravasation of the sap, when cold, chilly winds and frosts immediately 

 succeed warm sunshine, and soft genial weather; in such case the diseased 

 shoots should be rubbed off where they can be spared ; where not, the tops 

 should be pinched down to the healthy part, which is generally at the lower 

 end ; and from the remaining eyes fresh shoots will push in sufficient time to 

 ripen perfectly. The curl principally attacks those sorts of the peach which 

 have leaves deeply serrated and devoid of glands, and it probably proceeds in part 

 from the same causes which occasioned the blister, aided by the operation of 

 drying winds. The leaves and tops of the shoots affected curl up and emit a 

 saccharine secretion, which attracts the aphides; these, by extracting the 

 juices of the leaves and shoots, destroy them, and the tree consequently 

 perishes." 



At a Pomological convention held at Buffalo, New York, in September, 1848, 

 while the subject of Peaches was under discussion, the following remarks were 

 made, viz. : 



David Thomas stated that the White Imperial peach originated on his 

 grounds, from the seed, it was believed, of the Noblesse. 



Mr. Wm. E. Prince doubted whether it could have originated from the 

 Noblesse, as the latter was a serrate-leaved variety, while the White Imperial 

 was glandular-leaved. 



Mr. Thomas stated in answer to Mr. Prince's remark, that he had raised 

 other new varieties from cut-leaved peaches, among others a seedling from the 

 Early Anne, a serrate-leaved variety, was marked with conspicuous glands. 



Mr. Prince made some remarks upon the distinctive character of glandular, 

 and glandless or serrate-leaved Peaches. " He said the leaves served as the 

 medium of respiration to the vegetable kingdom, performing the same otfice as 

 the lungs do in animals, and in like manner the glands on the foliage of peach 

 and other trees serve the purpose of safety-valves to the constitution of the 

 trees, by allowing such impurities as would otherwise injure their health, to 

 pass off by the operations of nature, the whole process bearing a striking 

 analogy to the workings of natuue in case of certain internal diseases in the 

 human body, which have a natural tendency to come out to the surface of the 

 skin in various forms of excrescences. Where this natural curative process 

 takes place in either case the constitution retains its health ; but where it does 

 not. — as in the place of glandless peaches, — the tree is liable to mildew, and in 

 animals the malady is perpetuated. Serrated or glandless varieties of the 

 peach are, therefore, more or less diseased, and are, consequently, less desirable 

 and of much less value than those of a contrary character, and will, in time, 

 be exploded from our gardens." 



Mr. Hancock said " his friend Prince's doctrine was altogether novel. He 

 would not gainsay it, but he would like to ask Mr. Prince how far the glands 

 would go towards relieving peaches from the Yellows?" 



Mr. Prince replied that he was not surprised to hear that the gentleman 

 pronounced his statement novel, never having himself heard it from another, and 

 never having previously expressed the same views, although they had received 



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