1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



461 



level of the stagnant waters is below high-water 

 mark, anil somewhat above the ocean during ebb 

 tide. In conscqnence of tliis cia-iinislance, and 

 belore any hydranlie, works were consirucled, the 

 flood tide changed the currents of the ditierent ex- 

 ulories, and caused them to ruti backwards! into the 

 morasses, mixed, of course, with a proportion of 

 sea-water. While this was the state ol' things, 

 the population of this wretched district was very 

 seamy; and Viareirgio, now a large town, consis- 

 ted of' only a few huts. The natives, who were 

 few in number, were constant victims to diseases 

 of the liver and spleen — the children were sickly — 

 and old men were no where to be seen. The un- 

 he'dthiness of the place hail, in liict, arisen to such 

 a height, that the culture of the olive tree, with 

 which this fertile tract abounded, was almost en- 

 tire! j' abandoned to strangers, who, of course, lell 

 annual victims to the malaria oi' the marshes. 

 Various gttempts were made to remedy the evil ; 

 and at length, about the year 1741, a complete 

 stop was put to it, by the construction of valvular 

 gates, which permitted the efflux ol" the waters 

 irom the marshes, but prevented any reflux of wa- 

 ter from the ocean. The effect was instantaneous 

 and surprising. The insalubrity disappeared im- 

 mediately these flood-gates were completed, and 

 only partially re-appeared when they were out of 

 order, and permitted the admixture of salt and 

 flesh water in the marshes. Viareggio is now so 

 salubrious as to be much frequented by the neigh- 

 boring wealthy inhabitants, as a place for sea-ba- 

 thing and enjoying the delightful sea-breezes in 

 the heat of summer. The population has rapidly 

 increased, as a matter of course, since the happy 

 change in the climate, and Viareggio, which, in 

 1733, contained only 330 inhabitants, now shows a 

 population of between four and five thousand. 



That this fiirtunate change was owing to the 

 means above-mentioned, we are not disposed to 

 deny ; nor do we doubt that the admixture of salt 

 and marshy water may have a deleterious influ- 

 ence in the production of malaria ; but it is also 

 unquestionable that the most deleterious exhala- 

 tions issue from morasses which have no comnm- 

 nication whatever with the sea. 



From tlie Papers of the Peiin. Horticultural Society. 

 BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES. 



If the blight in Pennsylvania is the same as that 

 which prevailed in Connecticut, between the years 

 1808 and 1823, (where I then resided as an agricul- 

 turist,) or the same as that which has appeared in 

 this section of country, since 1830, the cause of 

 the disease is a small, slimy, disgusting moth, or 

 worm, which will be found enveloped in a closely 

 woven web, underneath a leaf, usually on the top- 

 roost branch of the tree. Pluck off' the leaf and 

 destroy the moth, and the tree is preserved ; or if 

 more than one of the leaves are turned brown, (the 

 first indication of the presence of the moth and its 

 deleterious effects,) you may be sure that the 

 branch is tainted, and must, therefore, to eradicate 

 the taiiit or poison, cut off' the branch until the 

 pure white of the wood, and the clear green of 

 the inner coating of the bark, appear. The moth 

 does not, apparently, feed on the leaf, for at no 

 Reason of the year, is it perforated ; but its effects 

 appear to be of a deadly poisonous nature. The 



I leaf, underneath which it is sheltered, fiist turns 



brown, and the poison appears to be commnnica- 



I ted through its fibres to the stem to which it is at- 



I tached, and then conveyed down the stem be- 



I tween the inner bark and wood, lurningthe leaves 



i ol' a brown color, and the stem oi' a blackish hue, 



I until it reaches the main body of the tree, when 



death ensues. Cutting off' the stem even below 



where it appears to be dead, a dark ring between 



the inner bark and the wood will be perceived. 



jJll this discoloration must be cut away, or the 



poison will still operate, and the taint go on. It is 



like gangrene in animal life. 



While in Connecticut, I had a fine thriving 

 young orchard of fifty-three pear trees and twenty 

 three varieties. I was very choice of them, and 

 by attention in plucking off' the discolored leaves, 

 and topping off' the diseased branches, I preserved 

 them aZZ during the most iiital season, (and indeed 

 during the whole time I was on my larm,) while 

 my friends, during that season, and beiiire I was 

 aware of it, had lost from one-third to two-thirds 

 o( their trees. I communicated the result of my 

 observation and experience to an agricultural soci- 

 ety in that state, and I am strongly under the im- 

 pression, that by its direction, that, comnmnication 

 was given to the public through the papers of the 

 day. 



The trees should be watched (according to the 

 season,) from about the 10th of May to near the 

 close of June, and on the appearance of a leaf 

 turning brown, it should be immediately plucked 

 off'; and if the branch is diseased, it should be as 

 speedily topped off'. 



I have not satisfied myself what insect depos- 

 ites the eizg which produces the moth, although I 

 conjectured that an active, nimble winged bug, 

 with a reddish head and about the size and shape 

 of a winged pismire, might be the depositor, as on 

 the trunk of every tree where I found the moth, I 

 discovered this insect. 



Lest I should tire you, I will close, merely add- 

 ing that if you should hereafter wish for a more \ 

 detailed account of the discovery of the moth and 

 its fatal effects, (which were purely accidental,) 

 I will freely give it, or answer any queries wliich 

 you may be disposed to put to me, 



I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 

 vant, 



Hezekiah Belden. 



Lewisburg, Va. j^pril 17, 1837. 



republication of Johnstone's account 

 OF elkington's system of draining, &c. 

 and aiton's essay on peat or moss 



SOILS. 



Having obtained from England the late edition of 

 Johnstone's 'Theory and Practice of Draining and 

 Embanking,' we shall commence its republication in 

 the next number of the Farmer's Register; and (as we 

 have a strong aversion to cutting up articles into se- 

 parate fragments "to be continued,") we shall bring it 

 to its end as fast as the engravings of the plans and 

 figures can be procured. Even should this part of the 

 work be badly and imperfectly executed, (as is al- 

 ways to be feared, under existing circumstances,) the 

 cost of engraving alone will amount to about $200. 

 We shall cheeifully submit to this additional tax, for 



