No. 5. Diseases of the Peach and Plum Tree. — Editorial JVotices. 165 



or some crop that requires a thorough pul- 

 verization of the soil. 



In proof of the advantages of cultivating 

 the orchard, I may instance Captain Randall, 

 who a short time since, received the premi- 

 um of $50, from the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, as having the best orchard; 

 he says, that "his orchard ground was every 

 season occupied by crops of potatoes, ruta- 

 baga, or beets; in four years, some of the 

 trees were thirteen inches in circumference, 

 and he washed his trees every season with 

 whale oil soap." 



Mr. Phinney, another experienced Massa- 

 chusetts farmer, says, " keep the ground in 

 a high state of cultivation, let the crop that 

 is planted be vi'ell manured and well culti- 

 vated, and the trees will require no other 

 nourishment. M. 



Baltimore co., September 11th, 1843. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Diseases of the Peach and Plum Tree. 



Mr. Editor, — It is well known that peach 

 trees formerly lived to a great age, and grew 

 to a large size, while the land was new and 

 plantations thinly scattered. In those times 

 the insects and the diseases which now in- 

 fest the tree and the fruit, were hardly 

 known ; and the only care the farmer had, 

 was to beat off the fruit, to keep the tree 

 from breaking dovim, by its abundance. A 

 general decline of the peach tree commenced 

 in this neighbourhood, I think about the year 

 1816, and for the last twenty years, but few 

 trees have been reared. I think, however, 

 we may still have this delicious fruit, by 

 using the proper means to prevent the rav- 

 ages of its enemies. 



Where the loorin is in the tree, cut them 

 out in the spring, summer and autumn — re- 

 turn the earth again to the roots, and as a 

 preventative, apply wood ashes, say half a 

 peck to each tree. The application of urine 

 is an excellent remedy. When the limbs 

 are diseased, cut them off below the spot, 

 and burn them. The yellows may be cured, 

 by manuring the tree with rich hog-pen com- 

 post, or fresh horse dung, soap-suds, beef 

 blood, and animal manures generally : urate 

 and poudrette are better than any thing else. 

 The blistering of the leaf, probably occa- 

 sioned by cold, must be remedied by the ap- 

 plication of warming and stimulating ma- 

 nures, to keep up a healthy circulation, till 

 warm weather clothes the tree with a new 

 foliage. 



The enemy of the fruit of the peach and 

 plum, is a small dark coloured bug, about 

 the size of the pea bug, fortified with a hard 



shell, long bill, and a pair of forceps at the 

 end to cut and probe the fruit, in order to 

 provide a place to deposit its egg. The 

 fruit thus injured, withers and generally 

 falls when young — or if it attains a larger 

 size, it ripens prematurely, and is of little 

 worth. It is a good plan to turn the hogs 

 among the trees ; they eat the fallen fruit, 

 and may thus cut off the progeny of another 

 year. It is better still to kill the bugs as 

 soon as they arrive to commit their mischief: 

 this may be done by placing a sheet under 

 the tree, and shaking it sufficiently to make 

 them fall, when they may readily be detected 

 on the sheet and destroyed. It is thus I 

 manage my trees : my neighbours laugh at 

 my proceedings, while I quietly feast on the 

 fruit of my labour — sell to them, and enjoy 

 a benefit from their unbelief 



James English. 



Smith's Landing, Atlantic co., N. J., 

 Nov. "26th, 1843, 



Philosophy of Heat. — " Well, my little 

 fellow," said a certain preceptor to a juvenile 

 philosopher, whose mamma had been teasing 

 the learned tutor to test the astonishing abili- 

 ties of her boy, " What are the properties of 

 heat?" 



"The chief property of heat is, that it ex- 

 pands bodies, while cold contracts them." 



"Very good, indeed: can you give me a 

 familiar example ]" 



"Yes, sir; in summer, when it is hot, the 

 day is long; while in winter, when it is cold, 

 it becomes very short !" 



"The learned preceptor stopped his ex- 

 amination, and was lost in amazement, that 

 so familiar an instance should have so long 

 escaped his own observation. — English pa- 

 per. 



Pine Apples have been successfully cul- 

 tivated this season, near Savannah, Geo., by 

 John Stoddard, Esq., who has a young planta- 

 tion of them. — South Western Farmer. 



THE FARMERS' CABI]¥ET, 



AND 



Philadelphia, Twelfth Month, 1843. 



The Central New York Farmer says, that at the 

 Worcester county Agricultural Society, in Massachu- 

 setts, the ploughing was done in good style. In the 

 remarks of Col. R. M. Johnson, he alluded to the dif- 

 ference between the agriculture of Kentucky and Mas- 

 sachusetts, giving it as his opinion, that the former 

 was many years behind the latter. The rough soil, 



