THE GENESEE FARMER. 



251 





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FArLUKE OF THE FEUIT CROPS. 



A >EW weeks since, on visiting some fiiends in 

 one of the finest fruit secti'^ns of Western New 

 York, we told tliem we bad come to see some of 

 their celebrated peach orchards. "Nay," said 

 ihej, " but to see the nakedness of the land ye are 

 oorae." And truly, these once flourishing peach 

 orchards look as though they had been struck with 

 a blast of barrenness. Many of the trees are dead, 

 and on nearly all, the leaves are curled up and 

 withered. Plum trees are so aftected witli black 

 knot, that they cannot furnish fruit enough for the 

 curcuho to propagate itself in ; and even the Cherry 

 trees, hitherto healthy and fruitful, are so debilita- 

 ted that the leaves curl up and the fruit is compar- 

 atively worthless. 



The dry, hot summer of 1856 enabled the trees 

 to ripen their wood so perfectly that tlie following 

 severe winter injured them far less tlian the com- 

 paratively mild winter of 185T-8, following a cool, 

 wet summer, which did not ripen the wood. Even 

 the Osage Orange hedges in this section looked 

 worse this spring than they did in the springs of 

 1856 and '57, after winters of unparalleled severity. 

 Lnmature wood is more to be dreaded than cold 

 winters; and happily we can do much more to 

 avoid the former than to lessen the severity of the 

 latter. That which is favorable to tlie healthy 

 gi'owth of a ])lant is favorable to its early matu- 

 rity. Superpliosphate of lime has a remarkably 

 beneficial etfect on the growth of turnips, and it 

 causes them to mature several weeks earlier than 

 those liberally supplied with nitrogenous manures, 

 which, while they induce an excessive growth of 

 leaves, are not favorable to the formation of bulbs. 

 On the other hand, nitrogenous manures are ex- 

 oe^dingly favorable to the growth of wheat ; and 

 they increase the proportion of starch in the grain 

 and hasten its maturity. We know litt'e, — in fact 

 notJv'nc/, with any degree of certainty, in regard to 

 the effect of different fertilizers on fruit trees, but 

 it is safe to affirm that the same general principle 

 applies to them — that anything which is favorable 

 to their healfhy and Angorous growth is favorable 

 to their early maturity. 



Turnips manured with an excess of ammonia will 



continue to grow till cut down with the frost; 

 while those on the same soil, and sown at the same 

 time, man-n-ed with superphosphate, will be ripe 

 several weeks earlier. So fruit trees on some soils, 

 abounding inorganic matter, continue to grow late 

 in the fall, and do not mature their wood. They 

 have an abundance of food, but it is not appropri- 

 ate to their healthy growth. On this account, rich^ 

 low lands are generally to be avoided. 



In ninety-nine cases out of a hxmdred, however, 

 fruit trees are in no danger of being injured frons 

 an excess of fertilizing matter in the soil. The 

 danger lies in the other direction. A farmer who 

 has a large ferm half tilled, cannot be persuaded to 

 devote a few acres exclusivehj to fruit trees. He 

 wants a crop of grass, or grain, as well as fruit. 

 Such a fruit-grower need have no fears that his 

 orchard will be injured by excessive growth. Ani- 

 mals half starved are more liable to disease than 

 those supplied with a sufiicient quantity of appro- 

 priate food. The same is true of fruit trees. Plant 

 them on poor soil, or rob them of their appropriate 

 food by the growth of other crops, and they are 

 rendered much luore susceptible to disease. Their 

 constitution is weakened, and they are less capable 

 of withstanding cold and other adverse influences. 

 Farmers who are at particular pains to cultivate 

 their corn and potatoes, often deem it unnecessary 

 to bestow any labor on their fruit trees. One rea- 

 son of this is found in that restlessness and love of 

 change incident to a new country. We are inclined 

 to confine our attention to those things which af- 

 ford immediate results. Farmer Slapdash will 

 give his corn good cultivation, because he can reap 

 the profit in a few months ; but to plant and culti- 

 vate trees, and wait several years for tlie fruit of 

 his labors, requires a habit of thought to which he 

 is a stranger. If seized with a sudden fit for plant- 

 ing, he sets out his trees in a meadow or wheat 

 field, cuts ofiF or mutilates several of them in mow- 

 ing, and then turns in his cattle to.do the pruning! 

 Tlie next year he will pronounce the agricultural 

 papers, tree pedlars, aud the " Rochester Nursery- 

 men," unmitigated humbugs. 



But even Farmer Fokecast, who plants good 

 trees and gives them good care and culture, is often 

 disappointed in the results. His trees do well for 

 a few years, and aftbrd good crops; but a severe 

 winter, or a succession of adverse circumstances, 

 too often proves frital to his hopes. Such a man 

 deserves and receives our warmest sympathies. 

 His loss is a public calamity. Perhaps nothing can 

 be done to entirely prevent such losses ; but much 

 may be done to mitigate the injurious effects of 

 adverse seasons. 



We believe the primary cause of the curl of the 

 leaf in Peaches, and the black knot in Plums, is the 



