AND DISEASES OP FRUIT TREES. * 249 



OH the other, or heaps may be prepared in differents parts of 

 the orchard, and fire applied according as the wind may 

 serve, to carry the smoke where it is most necessary. I , 

 know a gardener in the neighbourhood of New-York, who 

 saved his Plums and Nectarines by burning salt hay, after 

 its having been used as a covering for his Spinach ; and I 

 have no hes tation in recommending it as an excellent re- 

 medy for securing fruit trees from insects, especially if some 

 coarse tobacco could be procured to add to it. The damper 

 the materials are, in moderation, the more smoke they will 

 create ; and if a little tar, pitch, sulphur, or other pernicious 

 combustible besprinkled amongst them, it will be benefici.nl. 

 This subject appears to me of the utmost consequence to the 

 farmer, as well as to the community at large; 1, therefore, 

 cannot forbear offering some further observations. 



It must be acknowledged, that although this country con- 

 tains an abundance of wood, coal and peat, as well as 

 almost every other description of fuel, that the poor of our 

 large cities, in general, suffer greatly from cold; and if all 

 the tales of woe could be sounded in the ears of a sympa- 

 thizing community during our severe Winter, I am per- 

 suaded it would arouse them to the 'consideration of a 

 remedy. It is an acknowledged fact, that the poor of Europe 

 are cheaper and better supplied with fuel than those of this 

 country. This arises, in a great measure, from the circam- 

 stance of ashes being held in high estimation by agricul- 

 turists ; they are consequently a saleable article in their 

 large towns and cities, at a price equal in some instances 

 to half the cost of a Winter's fuel. 



Now I would ask, how is it that ashes are not as valuable 

 to the farmer here, as they are in Europe? The extreme 

 heat of the Summers must certainly engender insects in 

 equal if not greater proportions ; and as respects manure, it 

 must be scarcer in some parts of this extensive country, than 

 it is in the densely populated countries of Europe. Perhaps 

 some may answer, that ashes are already used by our culti- 

 vators to a considerable extent; but I would remind such, 

 that from the circumstance of their being mixed up with 

 other manures, and exposed to all sorts of weather, (as in; 



