No. 5. 



Peach Tree Protector. 



143 



1605, both speak of its use among the In- 

 dians of those parts. But in this case it 

 was not smoking, or chewing, or snuffing, 

 but drinking. " They gave us, also," says 

 Brereton, "of their tobacco, which they 

 drink green, but dried into powder, very 

 strong and pleasant." "We drank of their 

 excellent tobacco," writes Rosier, "as much 

 as we would with them ; but we saw not 

 any great quantity to truck for, and it 

 seemed they had not much left of old, for 

 they spend a great quantity yearly, by their 

 continual drinking." 



Lane found it among the Virginians; 

 Hawkins among the Floridians, and the 

 Spaniards among the Mexicans, " where 

 the natives took it not only in smoke at the 

 mouth, but also in snuff at the nose ; and it 

 was such a luxury with them, that the lords 

 of Mexico composed themselves to sleep 

 with it." " Its name," says Anderson, "was 

 probably given it by the Spaniards before 

 this time, from the isle of Tobago, one of 

 the Caribbees, where it was produced in 

 abundance." — IJ. S. Gazette. 



Peach Tree Protector. 



To THE Editor of the Farmer's Cabi- 

 net, — I doubt not you will agree with me, 

 that the space which it will occupy to pub- 

 lish the enclosed extract of a letter I re- 

 ceived some time since, from that indefati- 

 gable student and promoter of good and 

 useful things, Doctor G. B. Smith, of Bal- 

 timore, will be well and profitably employed. 

 In placing it at your service, I have no ob- 

 ject but to promote the growth of one of our 

 most valuable and delicious table fruits, the 

 rearing of which, is surrounded with so 

 many difficulties — and in respect of the cul- 

 ture of which, on some radical points, such 

 strange and wide differences of opinion and 

 practice prevail. 



Yours, with best wishes, 



I. S. S. 



Washington, October 5th, 1843. 



" A fexo words about the preservation of 

 peach trees. — I do not know that I can say any 

 thing new or of much value on this subject; 

 but what I am about to say, may at least draw 

 attention to it. It is known to all, that the 

 peach tree is rapidly declining in this coun- 

 try; and that this decline is attributed in a 

 great degree, to the ravages of the peach 

 worm, the JEgeria exiliosa of naturalists. 

 Various remedies have been suggested for 

 this evil ; but few of them have been tried, 

 and those few by very few individuals; the 

 evil therefore prevails, — has increased, and 

 is daily increasing. There is no reason why 



peach trees should not be as long lived as 

 any other fruit trees, except their exposure 

 to this enemy. I say this enemy; for it is 

 believed that the worm causes nearly, if not 

 quite, all the diseases to which the tree is 

 liable. It is certain, at all events, that 

 when the tree has been perfectly protected 

 in the manner I am about to state, from the 

 attacks of the worm, it has not suffered from 

 other diseases. The remedy I am about to 

 propose, may at first glance, appear trouble- 

 some and expensive, — for it will cost 12^ to 

 25 cents, for each tree, and require probably 

 ten to twenty minutes, in its application; 

 and when once applied, it will last eight to 

 ten years. That it will more than pay for 

 all this, in the increased quantity of fruit 

 the tree will bear the first year, I have no 

 doubt. I will state one more fact, before I 

 describe this remedy. It has been tried by 

 the inventor of it tor five years, during all 

 which time it has proved perfectly success- 

 ful. The remedy is this: Take a piece of 

 sheet zinc, of the thinnest kind, ten inches 

 high, and wide enough to fit the tree, and 

 cut it so that it will surround the body of 

 the tree completely, the edges approaching 

 within an eighth of an inch on one side; 

 place this on the tree, sinking the lower end 

 an inch or two below the surface of the 

 ground, and making the upper end fit closely 

 to the body of the tree; then drive a small 

 tack through the centre of it, close to the 

 edge at the top, merely to keep it in its 

 place. Then prepare another piece of zinc, 

 exactly of the same shape and size as the 

 first, and put it on over the first, but bring 

 its edges together on the side opposite to 

 that of the edges of the other, and drive a 

 small tack through the top of it into the 

 tree, as before. It will be observed, that 

 the tack of the last piece of zinc, must pass 

 between the edges of the first. The object, 

 it will be perceived, is to allow of the ex- 

 pansion of the plates of zinc as the tree 

 grows, without uncovering any part of the 

 tree. I do not know that this description 

 will be understood. Any body, however, 

 can explain it to himself, by taking a sheet 

 of paper, placing it around the tree, and 

 thus forming a pattern. The operation of 

 the remedy is very simple; it protects the 

 tree mechanically and most effectually from 

 the attacks of the worm. It is of course 

 known to all, that the fly, the parent of 

 the peach worm, — a large, bluish-black, 

 wasp-looking fly — seeks the tender bark of 

 the peach tree at the surface of the ground, 

 as the place to deposit her eggs ; and if you 

 protect this part of the tree from her oviposi- 

 ter, you protect your tree from the depreda- 

 tions of her progeny. It is true, that dis- 



