28" 



CURL IN THE PEACH LEAF. 



the "very best in tte world." And forthwith 

 a flaming article appears, describing, perchance, 

 as a real occurrence, and as the result of ac- 

 tual experience, a successful experiment, which 

 in truth had its existence only in the imagi- 

 tion of the writer. 



All such off-hand suggestions and endorse- 

 ments need cautious scrutiny, aijd the culti- 

 vator will do well to bring his own common 

 sense to bear upon each particular case, and 

 to determine for himself, by careful compari- 

 son and analogy, whether, after all, it is safe 

 and expedient for him to enter upon the 

 proposed speculation. 



Last year, I could have endorsed, with the 

 most confident belief, your remark in your 

 work on Fruit Trees, p. 468, that the ziirl of 

 the leaf on the peach tree was caused by a 

 minute aphis. In truth, there is a peculiar 

 eurl which is caused in that manner ; but the 

 true curl or rather cockle of the leaf is a very 

 different affair. 



I have some fifteen peach trees, which, for 

 three seasons have been regularly shortened 

 in, and are now exceedingly thrifty and vigor- 

 ous. I looked them all over this spring, for 

 the express purpose, and could not find on any 

 one of them a branch or even a twig injured 

 in the least by the winter. They are indeed all 

 I could wish, except the curl, which appears 

 upon them all. They bloomed freely, and 

 have set their fruit just in proportion to the 

 absence of the curl. 



So far as I observed last year, the aphis 

 appeared on every leaf that was curled. 

 They were, however, all destroyed with soap 

 and suds. This spring, not an aphis could be 

 found by the closest and most careful inspec- 

 tion, until long after the curl had inanifested 

 itself to the fullest extent, and then only on 

 a few detached leaves, which indicated their 

 presence by their peculiar and very different 

 appearance. The cockle was perfectly evi- 

 dent upon the very first appearance of the 



leaves even as they burst from the bud, and 

 could not have been induced by the action of 

 any insect, except while in the bud itself, and 

 before it opens. 



From the most careful and thorough exam- 

 ination, I am satisfied that the injury is done 

 while the leaf is folded in the bud, and that 

 it is affected by an insect. 



What that insect is, I have not been able 

 to discover. Indeed, the idea did not occur to 

 me until after the buds were expanded, nor 

 am I sure of a remedy, or rather preventive, 

 but I have a notion that next year (Deo vo- 

 lenti) my trees will be free from the difiiculty. 



Where the bodies of peach trees are occa- 

 sionally covered with soap and potash so libe- 

 rally that it rims down upon the ground around 

 them, can the worm obtain access to the roots? 

 I think not. Not one has appeared upon my 

 trees for the last two years. 



For the application to the bodies of trees, 

 the black " whale oil soap" is the most effec- 

 tual, doubtless because it is made with potash. 

 Even that is benefitted for that purpose, by 

 the addition of more potash, but for use upon 

 roses and other tender shrubs, to destroy the 

 white fly, aphides, slugs, and worms, that 

 which is of a light color is preferable. Being- 

 finished with salt, it is less caustic, and the 

 suds may be used much stronger. I have 

 used it for years, so strong as to kill worms, 

 upon all my plants, without the slightest in- 

 jury to any of them, except the Harrison 

 rose. That has a decided antipathy to any 

 such application. That alone needs to be syr- 

 inged with suds in the evening and water the 

 next morning. 



Permit me to say, that my suggestions in 

 your April No. respecting the use of char- 

 coal for purifying cisterns have since that time 

 been extensively adopted in this city, and with 

 uniform and the most gratifying success. The 

 finer the charcoal, (in fact, the nearer it is to 

 dust,) the better. It will of course need to 



