84 MASSACHUSETTS HOKTICCLTURAL SOCIETY. 



paired, and produced abundant crops; the ground under them, 

 within the noemor}' of many now present, used to lie literally cov- 

 ered with luscious fruit at the season of ripening ; while the life 

 of a peach tree often extended to fifty years, and, by cutting back 

 to the ground and allowing it to sprout from the root, to even a 

 much longer period. 



But when the nurseryman commenced to prolong the existence 

 of improved varieties of fruit by budding not many years elapsed 

 before the loss of original stamina and hardiness became apparent. 

 Before long (in 1818) that destructive disease known as the "yel- 

 lows " crept in. This was first noticed or described in print by a 

 nurseryman in 1823 ; it was very soon ascertained to be contagious, 

 and that the disease had come to stav. In the northern sections of 

 the country peach growing, always precarious, now seems utterl}' 

 ruined. 



The question of actual degeneration seems fairly settled, in the 

 peach tree ; and the fruit follows the tree and varieties have be- 

 come lost. Now the question naturally arises. Can the peach be 

 restored? Evidently not until the budded trees are thoroughly 

 extirpated, root and branch. We must resort to the custom of 

 our ancestors, of growing trees from seeds, and these seeds should 

 be procured from sources where disease is unknown in an}' form. 

 Then we ma}' hope with reasonable certainty for another period of 

 healthy peach trees and luscious fruit. 



Many sorts of peaches reproduce their like from the pit ; these 

 fixed strains should be encouraged, and painstaking cultivators 

 might impregnate the blossoms of such with jjollcn of good sorts. 

 By saving the stones of fruit thus produced they would materially 

 increase their chances of success in producing new and desirable 

 varieties. 



The cherry and plum do not manifest a tendency to degenerate ; 

 they seem to suffer through injury from insect enemies rather than 

 from any inherent morbid condition. The varieties giown by the 

 earlier cultivators are still known and esteemed ; njanifestinsr, 

 even under the influence of repeated engrafting and of artificial 

 modes of cultivation, a decided tendency to long life. Cultural 

 practices which seem to have impaired the longevity of the pear 

 and peach apparently have little if any eflfecl upon the cherry and 

 plum ; thus leaving the question of degenenilion in those involved 

 iq considerable doubt. 



