fE ACHES. 315 



CHAPTER XXVL 



PEACHES, 



The peach belongs to the twelfth class of Lin- 

 nseus's system it was brought from Persia to Europe, 

 thence to this part of the continent of America : it also 

 is found growing in the forests of South America. It 

 is, when in perfection, the finest fruit of our country, 

 for beauty and flavour : it is deeply to be regretted 

 that its duration is so short, and that it is subject to a 

 malady which no remedy can cure, nor cultivation 

 avert. Of the numberless modes of mitigating or pre- 

 venting the diseases of the peach tree, with which our 

 publick prints are daily teeming, none have yet been 

 found effectual the ravages of the worm, which des- 

 troys the roots and trunk of this tree, may be some- 

 times prevented, and with care may be at all times 

 rendered less destructive, but the malady which des- 

 troys much the largest portion of the trees, has hitherto 

 baffled every effort to subdue it 5 neither its source, or 



