140 PEACH CULTTTBE. 



to a hundred gallons of water, with an addition of two 

 or three pounds of flour to make the mixture adhesive. 



THE YELLOWS. 



The Yellows, as a disease, was very little known on 

 the Peninsula until within a few years ; but lately it 

 has greatly increased in some sections, and many of 

 our growers are thoroughly alarmed. The districts most 

 affected are the whole of New Castle, and the northern 

 part of Kent county, Delaware, and the portion of Kent 

 county, Maryland, contiguous to and west of the former. 

 The disease seems to be traveling slowly but surely 

 south, and hence the alarm is felt not only by those in 

 the immediate neighborhood infected, but by growers 

 generally. Many theories have been advanced regarding 

 its origin or cause, but a satisfactory solution has not 

 yet been reached ; and we see no reason so far to depart 

 from the views expressed in an earlier edition of this 

 work. 



CAUSE. 



This, as yet, is a subject of speculation. Various opin- 

 ions have been expressed, and various theories advanced. 

 We have no sufficient data to enable us to speak unhesi- 

 tatingly, but we believe its primary cause is bad cultiva* 

 tion. By this we mean, that in its cultivation the essen- 

 tial conditions of a healthy tree and fine fruit have been 

 overlooked or disregarded. This has been through igno- 

 rance. Cultivators neither observed nor read. At an 

 early day in this country the Yellows was unknown ; and 

 in newly-cleared districts it is yet unknown, save only 

 where it has been introduced by diseased trees. It has 

 never prevailed or been troublesome except in places 

 where the peach has been long and extensively cultivated 

 as in New Jersey, and, perhaps, a few other places. From 

 this we may reasonably conclude that the essential condi- 

 tions of a healthy tree and fine fruit are non-existent; 

 that the supply of tree nourisnment is deficient, and the 



