318 



YELLOWS IN THE PEACIL 



slow growth in its native habitats, that tlic 

 inhabitants say it jlmvcrs only once, in four 

 hundred years /" 



Only seven plants of this Fourcroya, we 

 learn, have as yet been introduced into Eng- 



land — those by M. Kauch. One of these 

 was purchased by the Duke of DEVONsiriRE, 

 and the rest by the celebrated exotic nurse- 

 rymen, Messrs. Loddiges of London. They 

 commanded five c;uineas each. 



CURE OF THE YELLOWS IN PEACH TREES. 



nv WM. R. PRINCE, FLUSIIIXG, L I, 



There have been almost as many infallible 

 cures aimounced for this malad}' as for con- 

 sumption, and other diseases of the human 

 frame ; but there is no truth in any of them. 

 No tree affected by the Yellows, has ever 

 been resuscitated, so far as m\'^ knowledge 

 extends ; and no plausible remedy has been 

 announced. Cutting off the tree at the 

 ground, or above it, amounts to nothing, as 

 the sap is diseased, (which is the blood of 

 the vegetable kingdom,) and consequently 

 every portion of the tree, root and branch, 

 is contaminated. If the mere bud of the 

 diseased tree is inserted in any part of the 

 most healthy stock that may be selected, 

 the latter becomes diseased, and will, at the 

 ensuing season, if not sooner, present all 

 the symptoms which so fully distinguish the 

 Yellows. Even if an incision is made into 

 the sappy wood of a diseased tree, and the 

 knife used is then inserted into a healthy 

 tree, sufficiently to blend the sap of the 

 two, the latter becomes thenceforth diseased. 

 Its operation is most virulent, and I know 

 of none equally so in any other class of 

 fruit trees. 



Formerly, it was the common saying 

 about New- York, that the Yellows was at- 

 tributable solely to the proximity of the 

 Lombardy Poplar, and that the introduc- 

 tion of that tree formed the fatal era for the 

 introduction of the Yellows, and was the 

 cause of its perpetuity. A general crusade 



was thenceforth carried into operation 

 against the poor and unconscious Poplars, 

 until almost every one was exterminated ; 

 and thus a tree of peculiarly stately and 

 unique growth, and which forms a striking 

 and pleasing contrast to others in landscape 

 scenery, became almost banished from our 

 land. But even this did not " sta}'^ the 

 plague," for the disease continued to tra- 

 verse the peach orchards of several states, 

 until an almost universal extermination 

 took place, and any one who will visit the 

 once splendid peach orchards in various 

 parts of New-Jersey, will be struck by the 

 desolate aspect of immense plantations of 

 dead trees, with only here and there a sprig 

 of verdure amid the mighty mass. In this 

 Island the malady became exhausted some 

 years since, by the utter destruction of the 

 old orchards, and the determination not to 

 plant new ones until it became extinct. This 

 course proved most fortunate, as the disease 

 has been for years banished from Long- 

 Island, and noAv new orchards are springing 

 up every where, and every garden is becom- 

 ing re-adorned with the finest varieties of 

 the Peach, " redolent with health." 



The nurseries of Long Island abound 

 w^ith trees of all the varieties, in a state of 

 perfect and natural vigor, and perhaps I may 

 be excused for a little egotism and interest- 

 ed feeling, when I state that there is not a 

 collection of the varieties of the Peach in 



