18 



Peach Trees. 



Vol. in. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Pcacli Trees. 



Sir, — I complain of the spirit with which 

 your correspondent, at page 35.5, animadverts 

 upon my communication, at page 32.5, on 

 "Tiie Peach Tree." From the pleasure 

 which it evidently affords him, to sneer at the 

 "old folks," I calculate he is a young man — 

 I should say a very young man ; but when 

 he is as old and grey as I am, and has seen 

 as much, this evil will have corrected itself 

 lie commences the attack under the shelter 

 of a great name, but, as a greater than he has 

 said, " he is not the first who has mistaken 

 the effect for the cause, nor will he be the 

 last to be reminded, that truth lies in a well, 

 and is not to be skimmed from the surface." 



I take leave to repeat, that the worm in the 

 peach, and the excresence on the Morello 

 cherry, are the effect and not the cause of 

 disease which arises from a poisonous sub- 

 soil, or an exhausted surface — but let it be 

 understood that I am now speaking of prema- 

 ture disease and decay. That is the present 

 question. 



Your correspondent asserts, that no culture 

 has been found a sufficient protection against 

 the ravages of these destroyers; but as he 

 has never witnessed the effects of the mode 

 of culture which I propose, expressly to neu- 

 tralize the acidity of such soils, he ought not 

 to pretend to know any thing about it. I 

 have seen it extensively practised, and never 

 without the most sensible effects. He tri- 

 umphantly asks, " Can either the poisonous 

 subsoil, the exhausted surface, or their conse- 

 quent disease, deposit the eggs which pro- 

 duce the worm in the peach tree, or the ex- 

 cresence on the branches of the Morello cher- 

 ry'.'" and admits that until this question be 

 answered in the affirmative, by an old former, 

 or some other of the "old folks," the error, 

 which he is so ftiriously combating, will not 

 prove very dangerous. Well then, here is 

 life and hope, for I, as triumphantly answer 

 no — and what then? He talks about effects 

 bocomingcauses, and producing consequences, 

 &c., but as every effect nuist have a Jirst 

 cause, and as one cause and one effect are 

 sufficient for my purpose, what need is there 

 of embarrassing so plain a subject? I argue, 

 that until the juices of a tree are become pu- 

 trescent, no fly will deposit its egix jn it; in- 

 stinct teaching that no maturity will follow. 

 I consider the fly, which deposits its egg in 

 the tree, as fulfilling the great law of nature 

 in the vegetable, as the Turkey Ruz/.ard is. 

 in the animal world ; they are both busily 

 engaged in removing putrid suhstances from 

 the earth, and renovating it to its pristine 

 beauty ; and as oxygen is the bfisis of acid- 

 ity, with which all putrid substances are 



highly charged, so calcareous substances, and 

 especially lime, its natural opponent, are ex- 

 actly calculated to produce the effects which 

 are contemplated in my communication. I 

 will relate a circumstance which occurred to 

 me some time since, which, although it is 

 conclusive to me, will no doubt be pronounced 

 by your correspondent as most erroneous, or 

 at best, as having nothing to do with the sub- 

 ject. On crossing a small plantation, I start- 

 ed a couple of rabbits from the bush, which 

 darted away with the swiftness of an arrow ; 

 but hearing a rustling amongst the leaves, I 

 looked and saw a poor emaciated rabbit that 

 had been wounded by a gun shot, which, al- 

 though still alive and able to crawl, had its 

 mouth, nose, eyes, ears, anil wuunds complete- 

 ly filled with the eggs of the blow -fly. Now, 

 why did not these insects attack the healthy 

 rabbits? Simply, because they hadthe instinct 

 to know, that with them they had nothing to 

 do; but as soon as putridity took place in the 

 wounded rabbit, they were briskly ai work 

 in their appointed sphere. So I argue, as I 

 before said, as soon as the juices of a tree are 

 become putrescent, then, aiid not until then^ 

 does the fly commence its attacks ; and as- 

 suredly a poisonons subsoil is the readiest 

 way to bring about this state of things. Does 

 your correspondent ever read the experience 

 of others ? (he will perhaps think me a strange 

 old man, but 1 assure him that I .'■•till feel as 

 strongly addicted to this odd whim as ever) 

 if he does, and will peruse the first chapter 

 of Tnll's immortal work on the horse hoeing 

 husbandry, on Roots, he will soon perceive 

 how easily it is brought about. Many accounts 

 are there given of experiments conducter^ for 

 the purpose of showing with what facility 

 poisonous substances are taken up by the 

 roots of plants and disseminated by circula- 

 tion to their destruction ; and I beg leave to 

 copy one or two, as they appear to me rele- 

 vant to the subject. Experiment 1. " I put 

 a mint stalk into a glass of fair water, but I 

 immersed one string of its roots (being 

 brought over the top of that glass) hito an- 

 other glass of salt water, contiguous to the 

 top of the other glass: this mint died very 

 soon. Experiment 2. I put the upper root 

 of another mint into a small glass of ink ; this 

 plant was also killed by some of the ink in- 

 gredients. Experiment 3. I made a very 

 strong liquor with water and the bruised seea 

 of the wild gnrlick, and placed tlie top of it 

 close to the top of another glass, having in it 

 n mint plant, two or three of whose upper 

 roots put into this stinking liquor, and tliere 

 remainino-, it killed the mint in some time; 

 and when the edges of the leaves began to 

 cliauirc color, I chewed many of tiicm in my 

 miiutli, and ft)und at first the strong flavor of 

 the mint ; but that was soon over, and tlien 



