PEACH APRICOT CHERRY 323 



the foliage by spraying with strong tobacco water, while 

 below ground the best remedy will be to scrape away the 

 surface soil and spread about the tree from a half bushel 

 to a bushel of unleached wood ashes, or tobacco stems. 



The roots of peach trees are often covered with swell- 

 ings known as crown or root -galls. Such trees should 

 never be planted, for although they may grow, they will 

 never be of value. Similar galls also appear on the 

 plum, pear, apple, raspberry, and other fruits. 



APRICOTS AND NECTARINES 



These fruits are not commonly grown, as ordinarily the 

 trees are short-lived and lacking in productiveness. They 

 require the same care as the peach, are as hardy, are 

 attacked by the same insects, and they are as easy to 

 grow. A nectarine is only a peach with a smooth skin. 

 Apricots thrive on a rathe* strong soil. Early Golden, 

 Moorpark, Royal, Roman, Montgamet and Harris are among 

 the best varieties of apricots, and Boston and Pitmaston 

 Orange are the leading sorts of nectarines. 



THE CHERRY 



While cherries succeed upon a variety of soils, they do 

 best and live longest upon a moderately light soil, pro- 

 vided it contains an abundance of plant -food. The pres- 

 ence of stagnant water in the soil will be fatal to them. 

 For the ordinary planter, the sour kinds will do best and 

 prove most productive, as, although ordinarily hardy, sweet 

 cherry trees are likely to make a late growth in the au- 

 tumn, and the action of frost upon the trunks will result 

 in the cracking of the bark, and the life of the tree will 

 thus be shortened. Trees grown on Mahal eb stocks will 

 generally be found most hardy, particularly on heavy 

 soils. The sour varieties may be placed at from eighteen 



