DECIDUOUS TREES. 445 



the tree in sandy soils. In stiff rich clays it grows slower and lasts 

 longer. But it is a fruit tree which should be kept out of sight as 

 much as possible from the ornamental part of one's grounds. 

 Peach trees should be planted about twenty feet apart in orchards ; 

 but in fruit gardens we recommend planting them in rows with 

 standard pears (where the latter are not nearer to each other than 

 twenty feet), and by keeping them well headed back, they may not 

 be in the way of the pear trees for ten of twelve years, and then 

 may be cut away to let the pear trees occupy the whole space. 



The greatest enemy of the peach-tree is a white grub, which 

 infests the neck of the tree at its intersection with the ground, and 

 sometimes the crotches higher up. No tree should be planted 

 which has had these pests in them. Their presence may be known 

 by an exudation of gum. In trees already planted they can only 

 be got out by carefully cleaning away the gum, and probing and 

 cutting with a knife until the worms are all out. A small conical 

 mound of unleached ashes should then be put around the trunk 

 of each tree, first removing the earth near the trunk down to the 

 divergence of the main roots. Examinations for these worms 

 should be made every April and July, and a fresh cone of ashes 

 should be made around the collar of the tree at these times. 



The peach tree is not entirely hardy, as its blossom-buds are 

 frequently killed in winter by sudden changes and excessive cold, 

 and the blossoms by frosts in the spring when they have expanded. 

 A fruit so pre-eminently delicious, and easy to grow, will richly 

 repay the care required to guard against these winter calamities. 

 Experience has proved that banking with earth around the 

 trunk, and mulching as far as the roots extend, aids the tree ma- 

 terially to resist the damaging effects of sudden changes ; acting 

 like a warm blanket on animals. An additional and efficient pro- 

 tection for the blossom-buds and tender wood may be made by 

 planting a strong red cedar-post, twelve feet long, four feet deep, in 

 the spot where the tree is to be planted. In November, when the 

 tree is old enough to bear fruit, the branches which are nearest to 

 each other should be drawn together carefully, and bound with 

 straw, like nurserymen's bundles. The several bundles of branches 

 should then be brought as closely together as may be without 



