78 



Peach Trees. 



Vol. Iir. 



grass, and I have never known one that did 

 HO, but what was more than amply remunera- 

 ted for his expense and trouble. It is painful 

 to see within twenty miles of Philadelpiiia, In- 

 dian or wood grass still maintaining- its orij^inal 

 position in some fields and meadows, when 

 lime that can be so easily and cheaply procured 

 would soon destroy it and supply its place witfi 

 something alike creditable and profitable to 

 the cultivator of the soil. Grass seed should 

 always be sowed evenly and in quantities to 

 coat the surface with a sufficient number of 

 plants to exclude weeds ; there should be no 

 room left for unhidden guests to t-eat them- 

 selves. Red clover, which should always be 

 one of the grasses sown, on account of its 

 large product, tap root, and the fine condition 

 in which it leaves the soil, weighs from 60 

 to 64 lbs. a bushel, and a bushel will sow from 

 six to eight acres. The seed of timothy 

 being small, one peck to the acre is suffi- 

 cient. Orchard grass seed being chaffy and 

 light, should be applied at the rate of from 

 one to two bushels per acre, and herd grass 

 or redtop as it is .sometimes called, one bushel 

 to the acre. There should always be at least 

 two, if not three of these kinds of seed sown 

 together to insure a good crop, .so that if one 

 partially fails, the others nuiy fnrnisli a supply 

 of plants. The loss or failure of a crop of 

 grass is too serious an affair to vun any risk 

 about that can possibly be avoided ; therefore 

 sow plenty of seed and of different kinds on 

 the same ground, and if you don't raise your 

 own seed, be careful of whom you buy, lest 

 you get an impure or damaged article, for 



Cheap seed is always the dearest in the end. 



Agricolv. 

 N. B. Orchard grass is said to have stood 

 the late severe drought the best, and timothy 

 to have suffered the most by it of any of the 

 artificial grasses ; but it is perhaps yot too 

 early to form a decisive opinion on this subject. 



For the F.irmers' Cabinet. 



COMMUNICATED BY THE PIIILA. AGRKULTURAI, SOCIETY. 



Pcaclj Trees. 



During the last century many fruit trees 

 were hardy, and witliout special care lived 

 and thrived through a long series of years, 

 yielding abundance of fruit, while they are 

 now subject to numerous diseases, which often 

 destroy them before a single crop can be ob- 

 tained. Those which sullbr moi^t are themo- 

 rello cherry, plumb, apricot, and peach, the last 

 a fruit that in this country is perhaps the great- 

 est luxury our soil and climate pr(jduce ; at all 

 events none of the rarer fruits contril)ute in 

 60 many ways to gratify the palate as the rich 

 and yellow peach. 



Shall we give up to the cancerous worm, 

 ^or poisonous insect, this delicious fruit, and 



acknowledge the ingenuity and perseverance 

 of man no longer available? I trust our ef- 

 forts will not cease till some certain means be 

 discovered to protect this valuable tree, at least 

 so far that by frequent planting, we may have 

 a succession of good and sound fruit. 



A great deal has been said and written on 

 the subject, but no well defined and system- 

 atic course has been established within mj 

 knowledge, for the cultivation and protection 

 of the peach tree, and I submit to the A agri- 

 cultural Society whether it be not a subject 

 worthy of their serious inquiry ? Probably, 

 by careful and deliberate investigation, such 

 a system or method may be recommended, as 

 will enable the farmer of Pennsylvania to 

 add to his apple and pear orchard, the peach 

 and the apricot, greater delicacies, in my 

 estimation, than tropical climates afford. 



My own feeble efforts and short experience 

 give more encouragement than I had antici- 

 pated. I have two peach trees about 12 years 

 old, which by a moderate degree of care are 

 yet very vigorous, and have this year produced 

 four or five bushels of excellent fruit. One 

 of them unfortunately has been much injuied 

 by the weight of the fruit breaking duwn a 

 large |K)rtion of the limbs. 



The care which I have bestowed on ihem 

 is to dig around the roots twice a year and 

 clean the trunk well, cutting out all the worms 

 that penetrated the bark, and rubbing the tree 

 from the forks to the ground with a solution 

 of potash every spring. I also apply the sift- 

 ings of anthracite coal and coal j'shes annu- 

 ally. This spring one of them showt d .'strong 

 symptoms of decline, and the loaves turning 

 yellow ; and the other became very gummy 

 near the prround. 



I attacked these enemies by tarring both 

 trees with coal tar about a foot from the 

 ground to the roots, which completely stopped 

 thcgumminess; I also applied the tar where- 

 :ever any gum appeared. I then mixed un- 

 slacked lime and Hour of sulphur in water 

 and applied it to tiie roots, and al.«o scored 

 the trf^es from the first limbs down nearly 

 to the around, on the north side. 



My. troes are recovered, have borne a fine 

 crop of fru'.t, and are now vigorous and healthy. 

 Whether all or a portion of this treatment 

 was salutary will require further experiment 

 to determine. In the spring of 1886 1 planted 

 abiHit twenty young peach trees, and have 

 treated them very much in the manner of tiie 

 twfi larne trees; most of them are growing 

 well and look healthy. They have this year 

 compensated me by a handsome yield of fruit, 

 and if they can be kept alive and thrit^y two 

 or three seasons more, I shall, even in a pe- 

 cuniary point of view, consider it a sufficient 

 warrantee to raise peaches by planting new 

 orchards every tJiree or four years. 



