208 PEACHES. 



tne fruit, that it has now become necessary to prop 

 it up. Another gentleman has since tried the same 

 experiment with all the success he could have desir- 

 ed, and he wishes to have the information as widely 

 diffused as possible. In the New York Evening Post, 

 April, 1823, a writer ascribes the cause of the decay 

 of peach trees, to small grubs, about an inch in length, 

 that breed in the roots, from eggs deposited there the 

 preceding season, and in the spring hatch and feed 

 upon those roots until the tree perishes. He recom- 

 mends the following remedy, which he says, has nev- 

 er been known to fail. As soon as the buds begin to 

 put forth in the spring, and before the leaves are 

 quite out. remove from the bottom of the tree entire- 

 ly, all the earth till you come to the bare roots ; from 

 which, scrape all the loose, old rotten bark, and de- 

 stroy all worms that may be discovered ; then take 

 three quarts of fresu slacked lime for a large and full 

 grown tree, and so in proportion for a smaller one, 

 and lay it carefully on and about the roots, covering 

 it from the weather, and it will destroy these destruc- 

 tive insects entirely. Lime or ashes should be applied 

 to the roots of peach trees every spring, by way of 

 preventive, and the whole of their trunks should at 

 the same time receive a thorough brushing over with 

 soft undiluted soap. According to Mr. William Prince, 

 proprietor of the Linnaean Garden, on Long-Island, 

 the disease called the ydlows is evidently contagious. 

 It spreads at the time when the trees are in blossom, 

 and is disseminated by the pollen or farina blowing 

 from the flowers of diseased trees, and impregnating 

 the flowers of those which are healthy, and which is 

 quickly circulated by the sap through the branches, 

 foliage, and fruit; causing the fruit, wherever the in- 

 fection extends, to ripen prematurely. In order to stop 

 the progress and prevent the farther extension of this 

 disease, Mr. Prince recommends from his own ex- 



