168 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. 



confined mainly to the following varieties : Coolidge's Favor- 

 ite, Early and Late Crawford, Old Mixon and Stump the 

 World. Experience has shown that continued reproduction 

 by budding, grafting or cuttings tends to weaken the consti- 

 tution of plants and trees, and for more than forty years 

 these varieties have been reproduced by budding. In the 

 mean time the disease called the yellows has attacked the 

 trees, increasing the difficulty of growing healthy stock, as 

 there is the constant liability of selecting pits and buds from 

 diseased trees. The disease is not easily detected in its 

 earlier stages, the first indication usually being the growth 

 of small wiry shoots from the trunk and larger limbs of the 

 trees, though not unfrequently the premature ripening of the 

 fruit is the first symptom of its presence. The disease is 

 supposed to be contagious, and the diseased trees, as soon as 

 discovered, should be removed from the orchard and burned. 

 The peach tree is so easily and quickly grown and the fruit 

 so desirable that a strong efibrt should be made to restore it 

 to its former vigor and fruitfulness, and the most direct 

 means would seem to be growing seedling trees from healthy 

 stock. Notwithstanding the discouragements in growing 

 this fruit, some growers, by perseverance and constantly 

 renewing their orchards, have made it the most profitable 

 fruit they have grown. 



The plum is a desirable fruit for the ta])le, and, when it 

 can be successfully grown, profitable for market. The tree 

 is perfectly hardy, makes a quick growth and comes early 

 into bearinij. The grower of this fruit will meet with two 

 obstacles to success : First, the curculio, a small insect 

 that deposits its eggs beneath the skin of the fruit. The 

 young larva, when hatched, causes the fruit to fall from the 

 tree. The insect is easily dislodged from the tree and falls 

 directly to the ground, and if fowls are allowed to run in the 

 orchard and the trees are occasionally jarred by striking the 

 limbs with a padded mallet, the fruit will not receive serious 

 injury. But a more difficult matter is with the black knot, 

 a fungoid growth which spreads rapidly among the trees 

 when once it crets a lods-ment. If neglected the trees are 

 soon destroyed. The practice in combating this disease has 

 been to cut the warts olF as they appeared ; but this afi'ords 



