I860.] REPORT ON GRAPES, PEACHES, ETC. 33 



REPORT ON GRAPES, PEACHES, &c., &c. 



Stephen Salisbury, Chairman ; William Workman, Benjamin Butman, 

 George T. Rice, Worcester; Asa H. Allen. Shrewsbury. 



The Committee on Grapes, Peaches and " other fruits," respectfully report, 

 that in this class the number of contributors is 47, and the number of varie- 

 ties is 148. Of Peaches there are 19 offerings ; of Plums, 15 •, of Grapes, 94 ; 

 of Quinces, 1 1 ; and of other fruits, 9. 



It is the melancholy duty of the Committee to ask the particular attention of 

 the Society to the specimens presented of the most delicious of all fruits, the 

 Peach ; and first, thanks must be offered to the contributors, who, under the 

 discouragements of an unpropitious season, with extraordinary public spirit, 

 have offered the Peaches on your tables, which, as in case of some other far- 

 mers' families, are more excellent in their pedigree than in themselves. In 

 justice to the skillful cultivators and as a guide to others, the names of the vari- 

 eties to which premiums are given will be mentioned. In the past summer the 

 prevalence of rains and the infrequency of sunshine, which injured the flavor 

 of other fruits, have been generally ruinous to the Peach. The disease called 

 the Yellows has continued its destructive course, and it is still a mystery to the 

 most skillful observers of vegetable life. The late Dr. Thaddeus Harris and 

 Miss Morris of Germantown, Pa., two of the best authorities on the subject, 

 concur in the opinion that the Yellows is a disorder of the circulation, and not 

 the injury of insects. Miss Morris says that the disease may be produced by 

 insects, as by any any other cause which impairs the health of a tree ; but 

 when she imputed it to particular insects, as the Tomicus liminaris, Dr. Harris 

 replied that he had seen the disease where that insect was not found. It will 

 not probably be doubted that in vegetable, as in animal life, noxious parasites 

 are always more abundant when health decays, and it may be observed that 

 the treatment commonly adopted lor the removal of the Yellows is the same 

 that is i-ecommeuded for the mysterious and terrible disease with the terrible 

 name, the Pleuropneumonia Epizootica, the actually cutting off. For human 

 subjects, this practice has the authority of some of our Aborigines and of 

 some of the old nations ; but it is hoped that the Medical Commissioners will 

 not introduce it into our homes. Miss Morris recommends steeping the soil 

 with mineral salts, as alum, nitre and common salt, as a means of promoting 

 the health of Peach trees, because in the vicinity of Baltimore, where these 

 salts abound in the soil, the Peach is cultivated with great success. That the 

 soil of Baltimore has no exemption from the Yellows is proved by accounts of 

 cutting down trees there for its removal. It is known that the application of 

 these salts is useful for Peaches and Plums, and it is used in Western New 

 York for the cure and prevention of this disease. The Comn^.ittee award : 

 Peaches. — For the largest and best collection, to H. K. Potter, of Graf- 

 ton, for his seven varieties, viz : Late Crawford, Yellow Malaco- 

 ton. Red Cheek Malacoton, Coolidge's Favorite, Seedling, Craw- 

 ford, Jaques' Rareripe, the first premium, .^4 00 



