i ii iiiiii I I I t i II M m -•■ir w\''*-**^^^'*'irt*r''^'°=^^'»'^f-'f-''\-'^''''''^'''^-*^* -, 



<aljc iiu-nicr's iilouU)liJ Visitor. 



13 



which onuses lunny of them to die, or if not, they 

 ill ftPiierui shoot up very u>^iik. 



After having irot my pLiiits iip, I strain tlie line 

 and eiit <lo\vii ii trciicli, sloping in tiie iisu;il way 

 for planting liox, and make idioice ol' all the 

 finest plants, pulling them in, one foot apart, and 

 one iii<,'h ami a half helow tlu; Pnrliioe; after this 

 is done, 1 iei ihe alleys and heds lie level till aii- 

 tuinli, then dig the alleys out deep enough to get 

 Ironi t'oiir to six inches of mould all over ihe hed, 

 and over this lay a eout of dimg, and fdl in the 

 alleys with any long dnng 1 eali get. 



T he next season, instead of digging out the 

 alleys, 1 lay on a mat of good rotten dnng, three 

 inrhes thick, and fork it evenly into the heds and 

 alleys, and so on every season nfier, never dig- 

 ging out Ihe alleys any more, as it is known the 

 uspiiragns plant form< a fresh crown every sea- 

 son ; and sometimes it happens that in a few 

 years the ci'own will increase almost into the al- 

 ley, so that hy digging out this, you must inevi- 

 tably spoil that plant; if this is not the case, when 

 the heds are in good condition, the roots will he 

 sure to work out at the sides into the alleys, and 

 hy (liL'iling out the latter, these roots must he cut 

 off, and you will often see them exposed all the 

 winter hefore dnng can he got to fill tliern np; 

 rather than he ti'ealefl in this way. they had heiter 

 be without any thing all the winter, as asparagus 

 does not suffer generally hy fiost. 'I'he first two 

 years I liave a very ihin <'rop of celery plants or 

 lettuce upon the heds, hut nothing aflcrwards, 

 nor ilo I plant any th ng in liie alleys after the 

 same period, for I tliink the asparagus is injured 

 tlierehy. 



The third season I begin to cot, hut not cener- 

 ally. The fourth and fifth season, the heds are in 

 full bearing, and maybe cut from plentifully, but 

 ] never make a practice of cutting very much 

 after the first week in June. I then beuin to let 

 it run ; in fact I never cut the very small grass at 

 ail. Asparagus being so valuable a vegetable, 

 some |iPrsnns continue to cut indiscriminately till 

 the latter end of June ; but this practice is of 

 very great injury to the next year's piodnce. Five 

 beds, as above mentioned, which had been |>lant- 

 ed five or six years, were very weak when I first 

 had the care of them, but by following the prac- 

 tice above detailed, tliey are not only imfU'oved, 

 but ain.ost equal to any I have now gol. 



I ought to observe, that I do not desist altogeth- 

 er from cutliug, but kee[i taking what makes ils 

 appearance by the side of the standing grass till 

 the latter end of June. 



On the Dtslrudive Effects of Ihe Aphis and Blights 



on Fruit Trees; icllh useful Observations for 



prcvdtting Ihein. i?j/ Thomas Anduew Knight, 



i2bQ., of Ellon, near Ludlow. 



Fi'ma the Traiisucliuiis nP llip Lnndoii Society for the En- 



cuuragenisnt ot" .\rts, .M;niui;icLin-es :ind Cosniacrcc, 1819. 



So many writers on gardening, and on general 

 agriculinre, have treated on blights, and so m:my 

 different ihtories have been oifered lolho pidilic, 

 that ihe snlject may appear to many, to have been 

 already suliicicntly investigated. The Society, 

 however, eulerlained a coulrary opinion; and, 

 having expressed a wish to receive liiniier iulbr- 

 malion, 1 avail myself of this opporlnuily to lay 

 before them some remarks, \\hicli I have at dif- 

 feii.'iit limes made, dming several years of rather 

 close allenfmn lo the subject. 



What are usually termed blighls, in the vague 

 and extensive signifiealion of that vvDrd, appear 

 to me to originate from three distinct causes: — 

 from iiiseci.s, from purasilicul plants, and from 

 n;i!avorabl(! seasons. 



The destriiclive effects of the aphis on wall- 

 tiee.s are .so well known to every gardener, as 

 scarcely to reijuire descri|)tion. Th.e leaves cnrl 

 np, the fruit drops off, and the progress of vege- 

 tutiun is abiiost totally suspended. Much ill- 



NoTE. It ivill he observed of course that the 

 above mode applies lo ihe cliinale of England, 

 which is inrire humid and more I'ft:^^ from frost 

 than New England — in a country where the se.-i- 

 soii is slinied, and where the vegetalion sprinus 

 earlier ami continues later. The course of cnhi- 

 vatioii in this coimiry ol' consequence should he 

 varied to ronforni lo the climate: we consider 

 the fiiregoing, vvritieu more than lwenly-fi\e 

 years ago, to be one of the most pe,rfecl ami 

 practiced methods of rearing .\s[iara^s. — EJ. I'. 

 M. Vis. 



applied Labor is often used by the gardener to 

 di'slroy these insects, though they are not \ery 

 tenacious of life. Another more i.'Xtensive, hut 

 less fatal disease in plants, the honey-dew. is 

 produced by this insect (asdescriheil hy ihe Ahhe 

 lioissier de Sauvjiges.) It has, however, been 

 contended, that the honey-dew is not produced 

 by the aphis, hut that it is a morhi<l exudation 

 from the plant : at least thai there are two kinds 

 of it; because the leaves are often covered with 

 honey on trees where the aphis is not found, and 

 because the aphis is sometimes found without 

 the honey-dew. But to this it may he objected, 

 that honey, not being a volalile substance, will 

 remain on the leavi'S till it he washed off by the 

 rain; and, when moistened by the <lew, will leave 

 the appearance of a recent exudation ; and that 

 ihe aphis certainly does not atToid honey at any 

 period of its existence. I have frequently placed 

 plates of glass and of talc under the leaves ot 

 irnit trees, on which different s))ecies of the a|)|]is 

 iihonnded, and I have found these substances to 

 he in a few hours covered with honey; and 1 

 have at other times distinctly seen the honey fall 

 from the under sides of tlie leaves, where these 

 insects ahoumled, by the following means: Hav- 

 ing placed a small branch, containing a nnn)er- 

 ous c<ilony of insects, in the window of my study, 

 wheie the sun shone strongly upon it, I closed 

 the shulters so as lo exclude all the light, but liiat 

 which leli directly on the branch. In this situa- 

 tion the descending drops of honey became ex- 

 tremely visible by refraction, and aiipe.ared evi- 

 dently to he cmitled from the insect with con- 

 siderable force. Each drop contained many mi- 

 nute white points, which I considered as the eggs 

 of the aphis; but, as I knew that the modes of 

 generation in this singular insect had much en- 

 gaged the attention of natnr.-ilists, I did not ex- 

 ;imine with sufficient aitention to decide tint 

 point. This species of insect af^pears to require 

 a previous disposition in the tree to receive it; 

 au<l its first attacks m.ay thence bo considered as 

 symptomatic of a i)rcvious ill habit in the tree: 

 fir I have found that trees wh.ich have lately been 

 transplanted, have totally escaped its attacks, 

 when every otiier tree, of the same kind of fruit, 

 growing in the san:c situation, has been nearly 

 destroyed. And I can assert, (i-nin many ex[ieri- 

 inouts, that if every peach and nectarine tree was 

 to he dug np once in every five or six years, and 

 to be replanted with some fresh mould round the 

 roots (which should be as little injured as possi- 

 ble,) a much hn'ger quantity of fruit, and of a 

 very sup.erior quality, would be obtained. It is 

 uimecessary to inform ihe ex()erieni;ed gardener, 

 that the tr(;e should be removed early in the au- 

 tumn ; that its branches siionld he considerably 

 retrenched, and lliat it should not he suffered to 

 hear a heavy crop of fruit in the succeeding sea- 

 son. I have never found any species amongst 

 the numerous and prolific genius of the aphis, 

 which »vas not readily. destroyed on thewalllree 

 hy covering it with a sheet of canvas, and under 

 that introducing the smoke of tobacco. It is, 

 liovve\er. necessary that the fmtfigation sliould be 

 repeated twice or thrice, with intervals of foiiror 

 five days. I have ot'leii seen the addition of sul- 

 phur recoumieiideil, and have known it tried, bnl 

 always with filial consequences to the tree, as well 

 as lo the insects. 



The blossoms of apjile and pear trees are often 

 said by fiirmers to lie blighted, when ihey arc 

 destroyed hy insects which breed williin them, 

 or in iheir fruit; and the stuns term i:-; used, 

 when the leaves have been eaten by the caller- 

 pillar: but as the insects themselves, as well as 

 the manner in which their depredalious are 

 made, are extremely obvious, they do not proper- 

 Iv come under our ohseivalion when treating of 

 lilighls. 



The species of parasitical jdants which are 

 found in the form of disease on other plants, ap- 

 pear to me greatly to exceed the nn!id)f.r of those 

 I have any where seen described hy biit.niical 

 writer.'). Of ihese the mildew is the most com- 

 mon and oliviiius. If a branch, injfecied uith 

 this disease, lie struck by the baud fn calm dry 

 weather, a quanlity of white powdi'r will be 

 found to fly from it; and if ihis be receiveil on a 

 plans of talc, or of glasii, and exatiiineil by the 

 unc<oscope, it will \in found to consist oi' very 

 numerous oval bodies, evidently organized. — 

 'I'liere is aiuither plant sinular to this in evej'V 

 tiling but color (being 6r a tawiiey brown,) which 



is not nnfreqiiently found on the leaves of yotl'ig 

 apple trees. Both these plants appear to me to 

 be evidently species of mucor: and as much the 

 greater number of species of this genus of plants 

 is (iinnd to flouiish in damp air, and in situations 

 deprived o( light, it may be siqiposed that liio 

 I'megoiiig diseases might bo prevented or re- 

 moved by placing ihe plants at proper distances: 

 hut 1 have not found this to be the case. They, 

 however, abound most in low and sheltered silu- 

 aiioiis; but they are not imfreipienlly seen in 

 those of an opposite kind. The red and while 

 mould on hops, .-ind the black sjiols on stalks of 

 wheat, (the rnbigo of Virgil,) and many other 

 diseases of [dants, will, I iliiuk, be found to arise 

 from Ihe atlai;ks of minute jdanls o(' ilus genus, 

 which appears to me to possess qualities some- 

 what similar to the digestive powers of animals. 



TliK most common and extensive causes of 

 what are termed bliglits lemain still to be de- 

 scribed, jmd evidently exist in the defects and 

 sudden variations of onr unsteady climate. What- 

 ever be the cause by which the sap is raised and 

 pro[ielled to the extremities of trees, it is well 

 known that its progress is accelerated by heat, 

 and that it is checked, or totrdly suspended, by 

 cold; and it has been ascertained by others, as 

 well .-IS hy myself, and indeed is known to every 

 experienced gardener, that a plant under the 

 most skilful management rloes not readily recover 

 its former vigor, when it has been injured by ex- 

 posure, for a few hours, to a tempeiatnre inncli 

 below that to which it li:is been previously accus- 

 tomed. It frequently hajipens in this climate, 

 when the blossoms of onr fruit trees are just 

 expanding, that a very warm day succeeds a 

 night whose temperature has been some degrees 

 below the fi'eezing point of water. In such a day 

 the eviqioralion from the unfolding leaves and 

 blossoms will lie greatly increased by the agency 

 of heat and light, whilst the supply of tiourish- 

 meiit is in a great measure cut off by the ill 

 efix'Cts of the |(reoe<ling night. The blossoms 

 will nevertheless unfold themselves, but will be 

 nnproduclivs, from the want of due nourish- 

 ment; whilst the hazy appearance of the air, 

 which almost alvvajs accompanies such weather 

 in Iha spring, will induce the gardener unjustly 

 to infer that the ill effects he observes have aris- 

 en from some quality in the air (distinct from 

 excess of heat and cold,) which he denominates 

 a blight. 



The best defence against this kind of weather 

 for wall trees, that I believe has yet been tried, is 

 a covering of a double and triple net : for hy this 

 the tree is in some degree protected from Irost; 

 and iho ex':ess of evaporation, in the succeeding 

 day, is in a very consideral)Ie degree prevented. 

 Liglitinng is sn[)posed by rrumy to be Idghly inju- 

 rious to Ihe bliissmiis of trees; but 1 believe that 

 tile ill effects which appear sinuetimes lo accoiri- 

 paiiy it, may be more jiislly attributed lo excess- 

 ive heat. The caiei'ul gar.lener ol'teii covers his 

 trees wirh mats, or something of this kind ; and 

 by almost totally depriving the tree of light, cre- 

 ates that hIiL'ht which he is anxious to exclude. 



As tiie blossoms o(' every tree are farmed dur- 

 ing Iho preceding summer and aninmn, they will 

 evidently he more perfect in proportion as those 

 seasons have been fiivnrable, and as the manage- 

 ment of the gardener has been judicious ; and as 

 the power of hearing, imfavorahlu weather will 

 he proportional to their vigor, and to llie maturi- 

 ty of the annual wood, through which ihe sap 

 passes to support iheiii, the gardener should bo 

 (thmigh he r.arely is) extremely tillentivo to ki:op 

 Ills trees in such astate,aiid the br.uiches at sncli 

 distances from each other, that they may receive 

 the greatest possili'e honeSt from the portion of 

 liirht and heat which our shadowy di'mate allords 

 them. It frequently happens in pminii!-!, that too 

 much bearing wood is left on the (rei'. Every 

 gardener ought to know, ihat whore a Inmdred 

 irniis are a siiHicieiU c; oji for a tree, he h.as a bet- 

 ter chance to obtain tii.il hundred from one thon- 

 Fand hlo.ssoms, lo which ilie'whole nourishment 

 of the tree is directed, than when the saine quan- 

 tity of nourishment bus lo SUpjiort a hundred 

 ihousand. 



lu standard fi-uii trees, when' no advantages 

 can be derived frioii covering them, much may 

 be done by thii judicious application of the prun- 

 ing knife. The branches of a tree of this kind 

 ought to he nnii'h thinned towards iheir e.xlremi- 

 lie!!, so that the light maybe luliniite.l into tho 



