YELLOWS IN THE PEACH. 



THE YELLOWS IN THE PEACH. 



The investigation of the nature of this disase appears to be quite overlooked or neglected. 

 It seems indeed a remarkable circumstance that a malady which annually destroys many 

 thousand trees, and which possesses very distinct and marked characteristics — as many 

 believe — should have its very existence doubted by some of our most eminent pomolo- 

 gists, who regard the death of the trees as merely the result of neglected cultivation and 

 want of fertility in the soil. 



Our attention has been just called to this subject by a letter from Salmon Ltman, of 

 Manchester, Conn., who writes, — " The Yellows in peach trees is becoming very common 

 among the trees in Connecticut, and unless something can be done to arrest the disease, 

 people will become discouraged in trying to raise them. It was introduced into this vici- 

 nity with trees from New-Jersey. I am informed that the yellows does not exist within 

 many miles of your place. I observe that you cultivate Crawford's Early and Late Me- 

 locoton — these varieties, with some others, I have supposed did not exist in a healthy 

 state, and that they were originally propagated in New- Jersey from diseased stock, and 

 that, remove them where you would, the native taint would develop itself in the yellows. 

 I have procured Crawford's Early from New-Jersey, Long-Island, Newburgh, Providence, 

 and Boston, and not one of all lived more than from three to eight years before they were 

 worthless from disease. I have never seen a Crawford peach tree that appeared to be 

 more than eight or nine years old, which did not show decided marks of disease. Have 

 you trees of these New- Jersey sorts which are more than eight or ten years old.'* If so, 

 what can be the influencee that prevents the developement of the yellows? It cannot be 

 your lime and ashes, for they are treated in New-Jersey with an abundance of lime and 

 marl. 



" I am surprised that so little is said about the yellows in the Horticultural papers, and 

 pomological conventions. Would not the history of its rise and introduction into the 

 different sections of our country, be interesting, and lead to the proper means for guard- 

 ing against its introduction in new sections of the country .-* I believe there was but little 

 of it in this part of Connecticut, until the Morus Multicaulis speculation, which was taken 

 to New-Jersey in exchange for peach trees, which could be sold here at twice their cost. 

 They were brought here in large quantities, peddled out or sold at auction, and wherever 

 they were planted the yellows now prevails." 



In reply to the preceding inquiry, we may state, that we have never observed any 

 symptom of the yellows on a single tree of the Crawford in Western New-York; but as 

 those observed were mostly not over eight or nine years old, we applied for further infor- 

 mation to H. E. Hooker, of Rochester, a very careful and intelligent observer of fruit 

 trees and their maladies, and he has furnished the following statement: — 



"The oldest trees of Crawford's Early Melocoton, with which I am acquainted, are 

 standing in Mr. Schenck's orchard, a very extensive market cultivator of the peach, near 

 Rochester, N. Y. They have been in full bearing for near seven years, under my own 

 observation, and were large trees when I first knew them; they must be at least twelve 

 or fifteen years from the bud ; and neither now or ever have shown any symptoms of the 

 Yellows, as I understand that disease. I have never been able to discover a tree in all 

 Mr. Schenck's orchards, nor among the other smaller orchards around us, which were 

 th trees from him, and which he procured in New- Jersey, where the peach tree in 

 rchard is not expected to survive more than four or five crops of fruit. Crawford's 



