304 



Peach Trees. — Education. 



Vol. VII. 



From the Cultivator. 

 Peach Trees. 



Many old men, not in the habit of com- 

 mitting their thoughts to writing, are pos- 

 sessed of much useful knowledge, which 

 should be gathered up and recorded by 

 their juniors. My grandfather. Ralph Voor- 

 hees, of this town, has long been a most 

 successful cultivator of peach and plum 

 trees; and from information derived from 

 him, I select for publication a few hints, to- 

 gether with some particulars obtained from 

 other sources. 



Peach stones should be buried in the fall, 

 in dry ground; cover them slightly; freezing 

 is no injury. In the spring dig them up, 

 crack them, but leave the pits within the 

 shells, as this is most according to nature, 

 and so plant them. If the stones are not 

 cracked when planted, they may not vege- 

 tate until the second year; and indeed, my 

 informant has known them in one instance, 

 to lie half a dozen years before coming up. 

 July, though a good time for inoculating 

 plum trees, is too early for the peach. If 

 peach trees are inoculated in tins month, 

 every rain causes the wound to send forth a 

 quantity of gum, which becomes hard, and 

 is hurtful to the buds. This evil will be 

 diminished, if the operation is deferred until 

 August, or what is still better, the early part 

 of September. Set the buds on the north 

 side of the tree; the sun will not be so 

 likely to dry them up. Mr. Voorhees still 

 adheres to the old notion, that the bark sepa- 

 rates more readily fiom the wood at the full 

 moon, and that this, consequently, is the best 

 time for inoculation. Apricot buds may be 

 set on plum trees with success. Such a 

 tree, inoculated about ten years since, is 

 now standing in this vicinity, and is still in 

 thrifty condition. Last year it was loaded 

 with apricots, which sold here in the coun- 

 try, at the rate of four dollars per bushel. 



Peach trees, in this region, are much in- 

 fested by ants. These insects gnaw the 

 bark, producing a flow of gum ; they also 

 gather upon the leaves, cause them to curl 

 up, and turn yellow, thereby hurting the 

 growth of the tree. I should like to hear 

 whether the same plague exists elsewhere. 

 Urine thrown frequently around the bodies 

 and roots of the trees, is a powerful stimu- 

 lant to their growth, and preserves them in 

 a great measure from the worm. Mr. Voor- 

 hees treated his trees in this manner last 

 year; and among the whole number, con 

 sisting of about fifty, but one worm was de- 

 tected during the season; nor were the ant; 

 so troublesome as formerly. Some persons 

 cover the base of the tree with tar, and no 



doubt it is serviceable against both worms 

 and ants. I believe the ravages of the worm 

 may be prevented in a variety of ways, with- 

 out resorting to the plan recommended in 

 recent papers, of setting vermifuge plants, 

 as tansy or wormwood, around the trees. It 

 is worthy of inquiry, whether wormwood 

 used for this purpose, would not be highly 

 prejudicial to the growth of the tree, as 

 this plant is noted for its power of draining 

 the soil of its potash, an ingredient exceed- 

 ingly useful to fertility. It is better to keep 

 the earth tor some distance around the trunk, 

 clear of weeds, grass, and all living plants; 

 and when young trees are set out, the 

 ground should be kept under cultivation 

 several years afterwards; for which pur- 

 pose, one of the crops best adapted, is po- 

 tatoes. A. R. McCord. 



La Grange, Dutchess co., N. Y., 

 Feb. 1st, 1S43. 



Education. 



It seems to be universally conceded, that 

 as scholars advance in years, they can apply 

 their minds for a longer period to a specific 

 subject. Little children are incapable of 

 long continued application to the same thing. 

 Their attention flits from point to point. As 

 their hand seizes quickly upon an object, and 

 as quickly loosens its grasp, — as their feet 

 bound from the earth as soon as it is touched, 

 — so their minds catch single glimpses of 

 one subject, and with the volatility of a 

 "iumming bird, fly to another. The whole 

 organization — mind, brain, and limb, — vi- 

 brates to the pulsations of the heart, which 

 are rapid, but weak. But with the advance 

 of time, and with the repetitions of exer- 

 cise, the power of concentration strength- 

 ens. As the mind becomes more mature, it 

 pursues its investigations longer at once, 

 and with a speed accelerated in the ratio of 

 the time. It seems to perceive, almost in- 

 tuitively, that it would lose momentum and 

 headway by an interruption of the continuity 

 of thought ; and, therefore, it adheres to the 

 same train of ideas more tenaciously, and for 

 a longer period. Yet, notwithstanding the 

 obviousness of these principles, it is a gene- 

 ral fact, in regard to all our schools, that the 

 younger scholars have far less variety and 

 change in their exercises than the older. A 

 monotonous course is enforced upon the 

 young mind while it is quick and volatile; 

 but as its power of concentrating itself upon 

 any given subject increases, it is subjected 

 to the dispersive influence of rapid changes. 

 It must be a great reformation which will 

 remedy this defect in our schools, and it is 

 one imperatively called for. — Com. School 

 Journal. 



