6o THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



Other, the fact remains that there the peach has ceased 

 to thrive, and almost ceased to live at all. If I need 

 lime on an orchard, it would be on one not under eight 

 years of age. Where the soil was rather stiff, or moist 

 and sour, and where there was a tendency to strong 

 growth of grass and weeds. I would use not over forty 

 bushels of slacked lime, broad-cast, per acre. Here it 

 would decompose the vegetable elements, correcting 

 acidity, and probably act on the iron salts, and more 

 readily cause them to change to peroxides, thus fitting 

 them for plant-food. I can give you plenty of reasons 

 why lime would be a benefit (caustic or quick-lime, as 

 generally used,) to Peach trees, because as stated above, 

 it decomposes vegetable elements, corrects acidity, 

 changes iron salts, and is most destructive to mosses, to 

 lichens, and to fungi ; and on these grounds John Rutter 

 bases his very sensible reasons for using quick-lime on 

 the peach, and being a believer in the germ theory as 

 the destroying agent of the tree, he advocates the use 

 of caustic lime and potash to destroy these germs and 

 save the trees ; and he believes he has accomplished it, 

 but experience has not yet confirmed it. I say again, I 

 can give scientific reasons for the use of quick-lime as a 

 fertilizer, and why it should be good for the peach, but 

 again I say, that where ground has been fertilized by 

 lime and barn-yard manures, the Yellows has asserted 

 its sway and annihilated the peach. This is not extra- 



