PEAR TREE BLIGHT AND PEACH BLOSSOMS. 



523 



years, two peach trees to be heavily laden 

 with fruit, when the blossom buds upon the 

 trees in all the surrounding country had 

 been killed by frost. These two had no 

 advantage of soil over others, and none of 

 location, except that they stood on the north 

 side of a board fence, which was about four 

 feet and a half high. The owner informed 

 me that he had been in the habit of throw- 

 ing around them chips or " sioingling toiv,^' 

 while the ground was frozon, to retain the 

 frost there. A highly intelligent gentleman 

 informed me that he had practiced, for years, 

 heaping snow around his trees, without de- 

 riving the least benefit from it, and he 

 thought the practice was rather injurious to 

 the trees. Relying upon his testimony, I 

 have concluded that the fence is more to be 

 depended on for protection than any tempo- 

 rary covering of the roots, especially as the 

 fruit buds are sometimes so far developed 

 in the autumn as to be killed by the first 

 severe frosts of winter. The partial shelter 

 from the rays of the sun afforded by a high, 

 close board fence, during the autumn, the 

 thaws of winter and of early spring, to the 

 trunks and branches, as well as the roots of 

 the trees, will, I think, often prove a suffi- 

 cient protection. If the bark of the peach 

 tree will bear the whitewash, which you re- 

 commend for pears, I think it is worthy of 

 a trial. I am sir, very respectfully yours. 

 Wm. Andrews. 



Petifield, Loraine Co. O-, March 26, 1847. I 



Remarks. — Mr. Andrews' communica- 

 tion is an interesting one, because it pre' 

 sents facts for consideration. 



We are inclined to the opinion that the 

 mortality among the trees described by him 

 is not properly any form of the disease 

 known to cultivators as the pear tree blight. 

 We think, from the description, it is the ef- 

 fect of mere starvation — the supply of food 

 and moisture being absolutely cut off, in 

 the height of the growing season, by the 

 extreme drouth alluded. There is no more 

 certain way of destroying the life of a tree? 

 than that of destroying all its leaves in mid- 

 summer — especially if this is continued by 

 taking off the second growth of foliage as 

 soon as it appears — and this was precisely 

 the effect of the dry summer in Mr. An- 

 drews' soil and situation. We saw the 

 same effect in this neighborhood, in 1843, 

 on a large plat of young pear trees on a dry 

 subsoil. They lost their leaves, were great- 

 ly enfeebled, many died, partially, before 

 winter, and others, from their debility, were 

 destroyed by the succeeding winter — the 

 latter effect, perhaps, being aided by the 

 crude juices remaining in the tree, the 

 leaves not being in a state duly to elaborate 

 them. 



The hints on retarding the peach tree we 

 commend to the attention of those in the in- 

 terior, who suffer from the effects of spring 

 frosts on the blossoms of this fine fruit. — 

 Ed. 



