.540 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 





decidedly developed case of this disease 

 has ever been cured. When once at- 

 tacked, to prevent a spread of the 

 disease, the tree should be immediately 

 removed and burned. No young trees 

 should be planted on the same spot, as 

 the diseased roots still remain. Stones 

 for seedlings should be procured from 

 districts of the country where it has not 

 been introduced. 



In some parts of the country, possess- 

 ing a strong fertile soil, as, for instance, 

 Western New York, this disease has not 

 spread extensively when introduced from 

 abroad. It has generally destroyed a 

 few trees near the affected ones, and has 

 then disappeared. 



ORANGE BLIGHT.— The branches be- 

 come covered more or less, with a rust- 

 like substance which ultimately destroys 

 the affected parts. Probably the true 

 remedies for the evils complained of con- 

 sist in thorough drainage, proper culture 

 of the soil, moderate manuring, and 

 destroying the cocci and fungi by fre- 

 quent washings with weak akaline solu- 

 tions, such as potash, soda, or ammonia. 

 Orange - plants confined within glass 

 structures suffer a great deal from insects 

 and fungi, and the remedy in use in such 

 cases consists in thorough washing with 

 whale-oil soap and water, and the free 

 use of a soft brush. Frequent washings 

 are necessary. 



PEACH TREES, To Prevent Mildew 

 ■on. — In the months ot January and Feb- 

 ruary, if the trees are in a stunted or 

 sickly state, take away all the old mould 

 trom the roots as carefully as possible, 

 and put in its place fresh rotten turf from 

 an old pasture, without any dung ; and 

 the trees will not only recover their 

 health, but will produce a crop of fine 

 swelled fruit. 



PEACH TREES, To Save.— Peach trees, 

 after producing a few crops, often not 

 only cease bearing, but perish in a short 

 time ; whereas, the natural life is fifty or 

 sixty years, or more. The cause of this 

 defective power of growth is believed to 

 be owing to a deficiency of potash in the 

 soil, and that if this alkali be supplied to 

 the tree so that it shall reach the small 

 roots and be absorbed, the fruit-bearing 

 power is restored, and the tree itself, pre- 

 maturely perishing, is revived. 



Dr. Wood recommends digging around 



the base of the stem a hole four or five 

 inches deep, scraping away all the worms 

 that could be found burrowing at the 

 junction of the stem and root, and fill- 

 ing the hole thus made with wood ashes 

 from the fire, which, of course, retain all 

 their potash. This was done in the au- 

 tumn of 1868, and with a result the 

 following spring at which he himself was 

 astonished. The trees appeared to have 

 been restored to all their early vigor and 

 freshness; they put forth bright green 

 leaves, blossoming copiously, and bore a 

 crop of fruit such as they had never 

 borne before, many of the branches 

 breaking down under the load of peaches. 

 PEAR, Diseases of. — Mr. Meehan, in 

 an essay on the diseases of the pear, says 

 debility is the cause of much of the trou- 

 ble ; and this want of vigor is produced 

 by excessive summer and root pruning, 

 which so weakens the wood-producing 

 principle as to induce inflorescence, ac- 

 cording to the well-known law that na- 

 ture always makes an effort to reproduce 

 the plant, in proportion to the danger of 

 death. When pear trees produce flowers 

 and no fruit, and the blossoms have had 

 no external injury, it may be safely as- 

 sumed that the soil is deficient in nutritive 

 elements, that too much summer pruning 

 has been done, or too many surface 

 roots destroyed by a persistent stirring of 

 the soil. Pears cannot be grown to great 

 perfection except in rich and generous 

 soils. Root crops cannot be raised be- 

 tween the trees without breaking up the 

 ground, which destroys their surface roots, 

 the most valuable of all roots. The best 

 method is to sow down with grass, and 

 manure the surface two or three times a 

 year, the grass roots will never run deep, 

 nor exhaust the soil. Twice as many 

 trees can thus be grown on ground where 

 root crops are not grown ; and, if too 

 thick, after twenty years' growth, they 

 can be thinned out. Any one will notice 

 the comparative freedom from debility of 

 trees grown for years in grass over those 

 grown in constantly-stirred soils. Old 

 pear trees in Mr. Median's garden, eight 

 to nine feet in circumference, always bear 

 when they have any flowers at all, always 

 have healthy foliage, always set most of 

 their blossoms, and drop only fruit punc- 

 tured by insects, enough being always 

 left to produce plentifully; while any- 



