PEACHES. CULTIVATION. 203 



monia or odor of which has proved an effectual protection. 

 Also coal tar. A gentleman of Nantucket has tried it on 

 the plank of his ships which sail to the Pacific, to preserve 

 them from the attacks of the sea-worm. The odor it ex- 

 hales is powerful and lasting. 



Another cheap, easy, and effectual mode is practised by 

 Mr. Vose, of Dorchester. About the last of May, the soil 

 is removed to the depth of two inches round the trunk ; a 

 composition of clay, ashes, &c., is applied with a brush, 

 and over this stiff brown paper is wrapped around the tree 

 to the height of a foot, and the earth replaced. Sharp 

 sand placed around the trunk of the tree, in a small, conical 

 mound, has, it is stated, been found an effectual protection, 

 from experiments made in Pennsylvania. And from ex- 

 periments made in the state of New York by Mr. Van Rens- 

 selaer, it appears that powdered charcoal placed around 

 the trunk to the depth of two inches, is a protection. But 

 the scoria from the blacksmith's forge would probably 

 prove at least as effectual. Lastly, lime mortar, mixed with 

 sulphur, is found good. And common lime mortar alone, 

 applied round the tree, has been found effectual. With us 

 no remedy is generally needed. 



3d. But there is another malady, which I believe is 

 unknown in New England, or at least I have never seen 

 or heard of such a disease with us. It is by some called 

 the yellows, ; and, according to Mr. Coxe, " the malady 

 which destroys much the largest portion of the trees, has 

 hitherto baffled every effort to subdue it ; neither the 

 source nor the precise character of the disease appears to 

 be perfectly understood." The trees are further stated to 

 languish, the leaves turn yellow, and they perish shortly. 

 The disease is contagious, soon spreading through the 

 whole orchard ; and if trees are brought from a sound 

 nursery, and planted on the same land, they usually perish 

 during the first season. And the infected soil cannot be 

 again occupied as a peach orchard, until some years of 

 intermediate cultivation. The only remedy I have heard 

 of for the destruction of this disease, is to destroy at once 

 the infectious trees, before the disease is communicated to 

 the whole orchard ; which, according to Mr. Prince, of the 

 Linnasan Botanic Garden, as stated in Thacher's Orchard- 

 ist, is at the time the trees blossom in spring. 



4th. The blossoms of the peach, and sometimes the tree 

 itself, are liable to be cut off by winter, or by spring frosts, 



