MILDEW ON THE GOOSEBERRY. 



25 



from which they were taken, was unfortu- 

 nately soon after destroyed by boys — plun- 

 derers of the fruit. It was purchased the 

 same season by the gardener of Gardiner 

 Green, Esq., who paid fifty dollars for it as 

 it stood. To protect it, he immediately 

 built a fence high enough, as he supposed, 

 to, prevent the boys from reaching the fruit. 

 It had the contrary effect — attracted their 

 attention, and they pulled down fence, fruit 

 and tree — totally destroying the latter, so 

 (hat the only shoot of it living was in my 

 V nery. From this tree in my vinery, I 

 raised fruit for nearly 20 years, but I had 

 also others coming forward. 



In 1821 or 1822, I sent one or two trees 

 lo the Horticultural Society of London, of 

 which I was a corresponding member. I 

 also sent them a painting accurately repre- 

 senting one of the Nectarines, that mea- 

 sured eight and a half inches round. The 

 f'liit represented was so superb, that they 

 d )ubted its being a correct portrait, until it 

 had borne fruit in their own garden. If 



you are in our neighborhood in the early 

 part of August, I shall be happy to show 

 you three trees now in fruit, covering 55 

 feet of my wall, as firm and as beautiful as 

 that represented in the painting sent to the 

 Horticultural Society of London. These 

 trees are all of them seedlings of my own 

 raising, and are quite the same as the ori- 

 ginal tree, the Lewis, the Perkins' Seed- 

 ling, and the Boston, being all the ^ame 

 fruit, differently called in various places. 

 The name Boston was given by the Horti- 

 cultural Society of London. 



With regard to the original tree found in 

 Mr. Lewis's yard, I have no doubt that it 

 was really the product of a peach stone ; 

 for we know very well that such instances 

 are on record, and that a Nectarine is noth- 

 ing more than a smooth skinned peach ; the 

 stone of a downy peach may produce occa- 

 sionally a peach without down. 

 Respectfully yours, 



Samuel G. Perkins. 



Brookline, near Boston^ April, 1846. 



A Preventive to the Mildew in the Gooseberry. 



BY NEW-JERSEY 



Dear Sir — Almost every body is discour- 

 aged with trying to raise the Gooseberry in 

 this country, on account of the mildew or 

 rust, which destroys the fruit. I have made 

 a good many experiments for the last 15 

 )-ears, to find out, if possible, some simple 

 mode of preventing this, but entirely without 

 success, until three years ago, I hit upon 

 a mode which has given me great satisfac- 

 tion in growing this fruit. 



My mode of preventing the mildew, is 

 very simple. It consists in covering the 

 soil under the bushes with salt hay about 

 three inches thick. This should be done 

 early; say when the blossoms begin to 



open. Whether it acts as a shield to pre- 

 serve the roots, and thereby the whole sys- 

 tem of the plant, from the sudden chances 

 of weather, which the scientific say bring 

 about the mildew, or whether it acts as a 

 stimulant, I am not able to say.* It is suf- 

 ficient for me that I have never had the 

 least appearance of mildew under the bush- 

 es which I have treated in this way, since I 

 began to apply it ; while others in the same 



* The salt does not, we think, act sjjecifically in preventing^ 

 mildew ; as we have tried it, spread upon the soil, with no 

 elTect. Yet we have heard svich good accounts from several 

 persons this season, of this very mode of using salt hay, that 

 we think very favorably of it, and recommend it for trial. 



