DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



237 



little; in fac't, no disease aoiong the early kinds; 

 as to the later varieties, but very few have yet been 

 taken up. The season has been so exceedingly 

 dry and hot during the months of June, July and 

 August, that the crops cannot be otherwise than 

 deficient, and I am perfectly certain that around 

 Paris there will not be half an average crop, I might 

 even say one-fourth. The reil spider, thrip, and 

 drouth, have done almost as much mischief as the 

 blight; good kinds are selling from 8 to 12 francs 

 the 100 kilos— (6s. 6d. to 10s. for 200Ibs.) All kinds 

 of vegetables and fruit (with the exception of 

 Melons, Grapes and Walnuts,) are at least one- 

 half dearer than last year. I have just returned 

 from a tour throughout the whole length and 

 breath of Belgium and Rhenish Prussia, which I 

 am happy to saj' present a very different appear- 

 ance to what they did last autumn; then a sound 

 Potato was scarcely to be seen, which, added to 

 the shortness in Rye and Oats, created an almost 

 universal alarm of famine ; not only Potatoes, but 

 Turnips, Carrots, and every kind of grain, are 

 generally good, and not far from an average crop. 

 From Courtrai to Ghent the farmers are every- 

 where busy getting up the late crops, rather from 

 fear of wet weather than actual necessity. Early 

 Potatoes are abundant in the markets of this last 

 place, and almost entirely free from specks. The 

 price asked for red kidneys was 10 and 12 francs tlie 

 sack of 200 lbs. ; late kinds did not look so well, 

 and sold from 7 to 10 francs. Towards Antwerp 

 there is said to be a full crop of kidneys, and per- 

 fectly sound ; but I SaW many places where the 

 blight had evidently attacked the late ones. At 



Bruges and West Flanders fear was entertained for 

 those still in the ground, although actual disease 

 had not exhibited itself to any great extent. At 

 Brussels I saw none in the fields, and those in the 

 markets looked sound. At Malines and Louvain 

 the people were all busy, and the yield seemed 

 good. A friend living in an agricultural district, 

 near Malines, told me that he had not seen or even 

 heard of any disease among the early Potatoes, and 

 that generally the farmers were satisfied with the 

 crops. Last season they were everywhere de- 

 stroyed. Further east, towards St. Trond and 

 Liege, I was told that here and there they were 

 bad, but I saw nothing of it. I went into a field 

 that was being dug up, and certainly did not see a 

 single root tainted; on the contrary, they appear- 

 ed plentiful, full sized, and sound. In this neigh- 

 borhood last j'ear the disease was universal, and 

 in its worst form. The present prices are 6 to 8 

 francs round, and 7 to 12 francs for the kidneys. 

 Towards Aix and Cologne they did not look so 

 good; the stems appeared in many places blight- 

 ed. At Frankfort, I understand, the late kinds are 

 partially affected; but by no means so much as last 

 year. From what I have myself witnessed in the 

 north of France and Belgium, I am fully persuad- 

 ed there will not be one-fourth of the loss of 

 1845, and I find from a report just made by the 

 Government committee sitting at Ghent, that they 

 entertain but little fear either as to quantity or 

 quality, and that it is expected there will be at 

 least 7-lOths of the crop saved, while last year the 

 loss was at least 8-lOths of the whole. — Garde- 

 ner's Chronicle. 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Peachej in Western New-York. — Your dis- 

 tant readers should understand that the term "Wes- 

 tern New-York," has two significations: a whig, 

 when boasting of large political majorities, refers 

 to that part of the state lying west of Cayuga 

 bridge; but when spoken of as a fruit-growing 

 region, a strip along the southern shore of Lal<e 

 Ontario, about a hundred miles long and forty wiile, 

 should limit its meaning. To the east, south and 

 southwest of that district, the climate ami soil are 

 such that the finer fruits do not flourish, except in 

 a few locations. In and near the valley of the 

 Genesee, we are signally favored, and boast much 

 of the vigor of our trees, and the quality and quan- 

 tity of our fruit. Most of the storms and cold 

 winds that come sweeping down Lake Erie, pass 

 over our heads or down the Niagara river and 

 Lake Ontario, leaving the latter at its southeastern 

 shore, making that district and the corresponding 

 one of Lake Erie nearly similar in climate and 

 productions. Canada raises but little fruit: thus 

 markets are open all around us, accessible by means 

 of the lake, our canals and railroads. 



Our peach trees do not bear heavy crops as 



young as they do in Delaware and New-Jersey, 

 but to counterbalance that their life is several times 

 as long; in fact we do not consider an orcliard in 

 good bearing at an age when our southern neigh- 

 bors find theirs worn out. With good care, a 

 peach tree twenty years old would not be con- 

 sidered superannuated ; though few attain that age 

 because they break down from the weight of fruit 

 accumulated at the ends of their long branches, 

 or become so imsightly from the want of proper 

 heading back, that they are removed to make room 

 for a younger stock — hut diseased they seldom or 

 never are. In a few instances, trees brought here 

 from New- Jersey have died of the yellows; but 

 with the tree perished the disease, and I do not 

 now know a single one which has a symptom of 

 that malady. The best peach orchard in this 

 county was set several years since with trees from 

 an infected district, but it has never exhibited a 

 trace of the yellows, and produces fruit that would 

 be admired even in the markets of New-York and 

 Philadelphia. 



This season has been early and generally favor- 

 able. The market of Rochester opened on the 



