PEACH AND THE PEAR. 55 



at work in such districts beyond the absolute exhaustion 

 from the soil of Peach-tree food, and the answer at the 

 proper time will be that by additions of improper food 

 to the soil, the peach, as it were, may be rendered 

 dyspeptic, and parasitic growths may be engendered and 

 overwhelm it whilst dwelling in the very halls of wealth 

 and luxury. 



The first factor in fertilizing the orchard is the dead 

 foliage and debris of the trees, with the dead grasses 

 and weeds dropping and decomposing, and again being 

 resolved into the elements, thus furnishing over again 

 plant-food. In a healthy orchard this is an important 

 aid to growth, but in an orchard with diseased wood and 

 foliage, they may breed disease and death, by the pro- 

 pagation of fungi. Organic life only being developed 

 on the outside of the earth's crust, where it can receive 

 the light and heat of the sun, therefore, these are ele- 

 ments in fertilization, as is also the rain-water which 

 falls from heaven, together with ammonia, and then, 

 again, the impurities of the atmosphere, injurious to 

 animal life are food for the trees, such as carbonic acid, 

 ammonia, etc. 



Before going further it will be well to see what is the 

 composition of the Peach wood — healthy and diseased — 

 and see if we can find what elements may be lacking, or 

 in excess, in the diseased wood. For these analyses I 



