CROPS AND PROFITS. 187 



It will be remembered that in an early chapter I 

 made mention of certain dilapidated peach trees upon 

 the premises, which were even then showing unfailing 

 signs of the yellows. This vegetable dyspepsia has 

 long since carried them off. Indeed, there are but 

 few belts of land throughout New England where a 

 man may hope successful culture of this fruit. The 

 borer is an ugly enemy to begin with ; but with close 

 watchfulness, the attacks of this insect may be pre 

 vented. His cousin, the curculio, does not greatly 

 affect the downy cheek of a young peach. Yet still, 

 in the absence of more tempting surfaces, he will 

 leave upon it his Turkish signet. Next, comes a 

 curious, foul twisting of the leaves, due may be to 

 some minute family of aphides ; but this can be miti 

 gated by judicious pruning ; after these escapes, and 

 when your mouth is watering in view of a luscious 

 harvest, there appear symptoms of a new disease ; 

 the leaves cease to expand ; the fruit takes on a pre 

 mature bloom, and a multitude of little shoots start 

 here and there from the bark, being weakly attempts 

 to straggle against the consuming yellows. And 

 if all these difficulties be fairly escaped or overcome, 

 there remains the damaging fact, that in three win 

 ters out of five, in most New England exposures, the 

 extreme cold will utterly destroy the germ of the 

 fruit buds. 



