486 CASUALTIES OF VEGETABLES. CHAP. XII. 



ing in the immoderate propagation of a sort of small 

 and parasitical fungus. 

 First The first species is often occasioned by the cold 



SDccics 



and easterly winds of spring, which nip and destroy 

 the tender shoots of the plant, by stopping the cur- 

 rent of the juices. The leaves which are thus 

 deprived of their due nourishment wither and fall, 

 and the juices that are now stopped in their passage 

 swell and burst the vessels, and become the food of 

 innumerable little insects that soon after make their 

 appearance. Hence they are often mistaken for the 

 cause of the disease itself; the farmer supposing 

 they are wafted to him on the east wind, while they 

 are only generated in the extravasated juices as 

 forming a proper nidus for their eggs. Their mul- 

 tiplication will no doubt contribute to the spreading 

 of the disorder, as they always breed fast where 

 they find plenty of food. 



But a similar disease is often occasioned by the 

 early frost of spring. If the weather is prematurely 

 mild, the blossom is prematurely protruded, which 

 though it is viewed by the unexperienced with de- 

 light, yet it is viewed by the judicious with fear. 

 For it very often happens that this premature blos- 

 som is totally destroyed by subsequent frosts, as 

 well as both the leaves and shoots, which conse- 

 quently wither and fall, and injure if they do not 

 actually kill the plant. This evil is also often aug- 

 mented by the unskilful gardener even in attempt- 

 ing to prevent it that is, by matting up his trees 



