PEACH AND THE PEAR. 89 



It is claimed by many that this disease is contagious, 

 and some go so far as to say that it often spreads in the 

 direction of the prevailing wind — others claim that 

 it has been communicated from one tree to another 

 by dragging a diseased tree through the orchard, and 

 by the pruning-shears or the knife. Now, while I have 

 no positive proof that the disease is not contagious, 

 I do seriously doubt that any one has positive proof that 

 it is ; certainly, I have never seen such proof stated. 

 Probably, in most of the cases where the disease is 

 thought to have spread, the conditions of soil, atmos- 

 pheric changes, etc., being the same, all the trees, sooner 

 or later, will die in the same manner. I have seen in 

 the same orchard, trees standing in the more moist, rich 

 soil die after only a few years growth, while on the 

 higher, lighter and poorer soil they lived many years 

 longer. 



I have in mind another instance : A lot of trees of 

 the same age and variety, and from the same nursery, 

 that were planted on soil apparently of the same 

 nature ; the land was divided into two lots, one being 

 seeded to grass with oats, while the other was cultivated 

 with some hoed crop. 



The first lot of trees which were robbed of the 

 proper amount of food and moisture, died in a year or 

 two, while those in the cultivated land kept up a fine 

 healthy growth for several years, and produced some very 



