FRUIT GARDEN. 257 



the trees against the attacks of their numerous en- 

 emies. Of these the Acarus, Cherines, Aphis, and 

 Thrips (an insect hardly perceptible to the naked 

 eye), are the most common, and are best expelled 

 by water and tobacco smoke. It is, however, the 

 curculio, or grub (as we call it), that may, from its 

 pre-eminence in mischief, be regarded as the de- 

 stroyer of the peach. Its attacks ordinarily begin 

 in the stem near the surface of the earth ; and, if not 

 arrested, will soon terminate in the roots, where it 

 riots on the gum exuding from the many wounds it 

 inflicts. The remedies resorted to in this case are, 

 first, the application of boiling water to the roots ; 

 secondly, a similar application of unslacked lime, 

 in the proportion of one quart to a tree ; thirdly, re- 

 moving the surface earth, and substituting for it tan- 

 ner's bark; fourthly, removing the earth, as in the 

 preceding case, in the month of November, and ex- 

 posing the roots to the action of the frost during 

 the winter; and, lastly, encircling the lower part of 

 the stem with straw, and thus compelling the insect 

 to begin his attack so far from the ground, that he 

 will be unable to avail himself of its shelter before 

 the coming on of winter. 



The diseases of the peach-tree are as numerous, 

 and often as fatal, as the depredators just mention- 

 ed; and are known to horticulturists under the 

 names of the honey-dew, mildew, canker, spots, &c. 

 The first of these yields to the flower of sulphur 

 sprinkled over the tree ; but the most efficient cure 

 for all of them is the removal of the soil about their 

 roots.* 



The PLUM-TREE (Primus domesiica) is a native of 

 different parts of Europe, has been long cultivated, 

 and has, of course, many varieties. Of these, the 



* Kinment's experiments, made in 1811, 12, and 13, show that 

 the last of these diseases is the effect of too much vegetable 

 food, and that, by reducing the quantity of this, the diseased 

 trees will recover. 



Y2 



