1891.] ESSAYS. 113 



Only those of us who remember with what ease and abund- 

 ance the peach was formerly grown can fully appreciate the 

 loss we have experienced in the difficulty with which this fruit 

 has been produced in later years. Formerly the trees were 

 found in almost every garden ; they came up in the hedge rows 

 and by the roadside wherever the drifting soil by chance 

 covered the pits, grew rapidly, came early into t/earing and for 

 years produced annually an abundance of the most delicious 

 fruit known to the temperate climate. 



The only insect enemy that seriously injures the peach is the 

 borer who commences work at or just below the surface soil in 

 the soft bark of the tree and if undisturbed will often com- 

 pletely girdle and destroy the tree. It is claimed that a mound of 

 leached ashes one foot in height around the base of the tree 

 from May till October will prevent their entering it, the same 

 treatment recommended for the apple will prove effectual. 



The most serious difficulties in growing the peach are the dis- 

 ease called the yellows and the killing of the fruit buds during 

 the winter. The appearance of the former is indicated by the 

 growth of small wiry shoots on the trunk or branches near the 

 trunk, bearing small light-colored leaves ; it is also shown by the 

 fruit prematurely ripening, the flesh being higher colored and 

 inferior in quality. This frequently occurs on trees apparently 

 healthy ; but if allowed to stand the following year the fruit will 

 not attain more than half its natural size and will be of no 

 value. In speaking of the cause of this disease. Downing says : 

 "No writer has yet ventured to assign a theory which would 

 explain the cause of this malady." The disease is generally 

 believed to be contagious and it is recommended to remove and 

 ])urn the trees as soon as the disease makes its appearance. 



There have been various theories advanced as to the causes 

 of failure in growing the peach. It is said by some that the 

 peach being indigenous to a Avarmer climate will not endure 

 the low temperature of our winters, but the records do not show 

 that our winters are more severe than formerly when the peach 

 was almost a certain crop. Some go so far as to say they can 

 give the exact degree of temperature at which the l)uds are 



