THE PEAUH. * 603 



Abroad, it is well known that the peach is always subjected 

 to a regular system of pruning, and is never allowed to produce 

 an over-crop. It is not a little singular, both that the Yellows 

 should never have originated there, and that, notwithstanding 

 the great number of American varieties of this fruit that have 

 been repeatedly sent to England and are now growing there, the 

 disease has never extended itself, or been communicated to 

 other trees, or even been recognized by English or French 

 horticulturists. We must confess these facts appear to us strong 

 proofs in favour of our opinion as to the nature and origin of 

 the malady. 



Remedy for the Yellows. It may seem to many persons a 

 difficult task to rid ourselves of so wide-spread a malady as 

 this, yet we are confident that a little perseverance and care will 

 certainly accomplish it. In the present uncertainty with regard 

 to its contagious nature, it is much the wisest course to reject 

 " the benefit of the doubt," and act upon the principle that it is 

 so. We know at the present moment several gardens, where 

 the trees are maintained in good health by immediately rooting 

 out and destroying every tree as soon as it shows marked 

 symptoms of the malady. 



1. We would therefore commence by exterminating, root and 

 branch, every tree which has the Yellows. And another tree 

 should not be planted in the same spot without a lapse of several 

 years, or a thorough removal of the soil. 



2. The utmost care should be taken to select seeds for plant- 

 ing from perfectly healthy trees. Nurserymen to secure this 

 should gather them from the latest ripening varieties, or procure 

 them from districts of the country where the disease is .not 

 known. 



3. So far we have aimed only at procuring a healthy stock of 

 trees. The most important matter remains to be stated how 

 to preserve them in a healthy state. 



The answer to this is emphatically as follows : pursue steadily \ 

 from the first bearing year, the shortening-in system cf pruning 

 already explained. This will at once secure your trees against 

 the possibility of over-bearing, and its consequences, and main- 

 tain them in vigour and productiveness for a long time.* It 

 will, in short, effectually prevent the Yellows where it does not 

 already exist in the tree. To whoever will follow these precau- 

 tions, pursue this mode of cultivation, and adopt at the same 



* The following remarks, directly in point, are from Loudon's last work: 

 " The effect of shortening the shoots of the peach is not merely to throw 

 more sap int./ the fruit, but to add vigour to the tree generally, by in- 

 creasing the power of the roots relatively to the branches. The peach 

 being a ^short-lived tree, it has been justly remarked by Mr. Tiiompson, were 

 it allowed to expend all its accumulated sap every year, it would soon exhaust 

 itself and die of old age." Suburban Horticulturist. 



