198 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



" Peach trees are liable to three casualties : 



" 1. The fly, that deposits eggs near the root, 

 and there forms a worm. 



" 2. The bursting of the bark by severe frosts in 

 wet winters. 



" 3. The splitting off the limbs at the fork of the 

 tree. 



" The fly, which is blue, (but not a wasp,) be- 

 gins its attack about the middle of July, and con- 

 tinues its depredations until the middle of Septem- 

 ber. It wounds the tender part of the bark, and 

 generally at the surface of the ground, there depo- 

 siting its eggs, which hatch into worms, that prey 

 upon the mucilage and tender part of the bark, 

 until the communication between the root and the 

 branches is cut off, causing the death of the tree. 

 To guard against this, raise a little hillock in the 

 month of June, round the tree, about a foot high, 

 so as completely to cover that part of the bark 

 kept moist and tender at the surface of the ground. 

 This hillock will not stand so long at one height, as 

 to tender the bark above, as the rain will gradually 

 wash it down level with the surface, and must be 

 raised again every summer." 



" To take out the worm, the roots must be un- 

 covered, and the spot looked for where the gum 

 oozes out, following the cavity round with the point 

 of a knife, until you come to the solid wood, and 

 lay the whole open: the worm will be found with 

 a white body and black head; which must be de- 

 stroyed, and the holes carefully filled up with cow- 

 manure, rendered adhesive by sand or lime core and 

 ashes, as directed by Forsyth. 



" Soap suds, heated after a family wash, and 

 poured on the roots of trees, about the middle of 

 August, have been used with success in destroying 

 the eggs, or the young worm. 



" According to Mr. John Ellis, of New Jersey, the 

 injury arising from the worm may be prevented in 

 the following way : 



