474 



HOW TO TREAT PEACH TREES. 



a young tree, or half-a-bushel to a full 

 grown tree — in that proportion at least ; put 

 not a dust of it around the trunk, (that is, so 

 far as benefitting the roots go,) but make a 

 calculation with your eye of how far the 

 roots of the tree spread ; it may be two feet, 

 it may be six feet every way from the trunk. 

 Then, having satisfied yourself about Avhere 

 the greater part of the young fibres are, 

 spread the ashes on the surface of the 

 ground, over them, and turn it under about 

 three inches with the three-pronged spud, 

 or a light spade. If such treatment as this 

 don't give you healthy trees, then your 

 stock is radically diseased, and only worth 

 a place on the wood-pile. 



That little enemy, the peach-worm, will 

 very likely have established himself in your 

 trees ; he is already there to a dead certain- 

 ty if you are not wide awake to his sapping 

 and mining habits. If, therefore, you have 

 not been over your trees last fall, and got 

 the upper hand of him for the next six 

 months, altogether the best way of doing 

 business with this gentleman is to Lynch 

 him on the spot, by ferreting him out of his 

 hole, in the neck of the tree, just below the 

 surface of the ground. You can do this 

 good turn for a peach tree in five minutes, 

 by lifting the soil around it two or three 

 inches deep, laying bare the stem just be- 

 tween wind and water, as the old sailors 

 sav. If all looks clean and smooth there, 

 very well ; Teplace the soil again. If, on 

 the other hand, you see gum, then look out 

 for the enemy. Scratch a moment with 

 your knife where the gum oozes out, and 

 you will get on his trail ; cut into the bark 

 till you find him — in the shape of a white 

 grub, three-quarters of an inch long — and 

 when found, "make no note of it," but set- 

 tle his accounts as rapidly as you can. 



This grub comes from an egg laid in the 

 bark, in summer, by the winged insect. 



Unless the creature is wonderfully abund- 

 ant, it contents itself with looking about 

 for the tender bark at the surface of the 

 ground. On this account it is a good plan 

 to outwit the rascal by heaping up a little 

 cone or pile of wood ashes, tan or sand, say 

 six inches high, around the trunk. The 

 sole object of this is to guard the soft place 

 in the bark at the neck of the tree. On 

 this account you must clear away the pile 

 every fall, so as to let the bark harden 

 again. If you do not, but keep it there 

 winter and summer, you will find that it 

 does no more good than blowing against 

 the wind — for the very plain reason that the 

 bark becomes tender at the top of the pile, 

 instead of the surface of the ground, as be- 

 fore. 



Some years ago a good deal was said in 

 favor of pouring boiling water about the 

 neck * of peach trees. It was said to kill 

 the worms and do no harm to the tree. I 

 am an advocate for this practice. I do not 

 consider it, by any means, so thorough a 

 means of ridding the tree of worms as " war 

 to the knife" is, but still, it will in most 

 cases, do the job for them most effectually; 

 and many a tree that stands near the kitch- 

 en door, may be protected in this way by 

 she who holds the kettle for a weapon, as 

 well as by the " regular army" of practical 

 gardeners. 



Besides this, I have satisfied myself, by 

 experiment, (though I am sorry I have not 

 yet had time to get up the theory^) that a 

 good dose of hot water is a means of bring- 

 ing-to many a peach tree just about giving 

 up the ghost. It seems to rouse the vital 

 powers ; and if there is life enough left, a 

 good scalding at the neck seems to produce 

 a reaction that is at times quite wonderful. 



Three years ago I had two trees, a peach 



* I mean by the neck the bottom of the trunk, jusS at the 

 surface of the ground, where the roots start out. 



