58 



generation of seedlings, each more enfeebled than its pre- 

 decessor, at last produced a characteristic feeble and sickly 

 stock of peach trees throughout the district. The great 

 abundance of the fruit caused it to find its way into all the 

 markets along the sea coast. The stones from the fruit 

 thus introduced into the Northern States, being esteemed 

 something better than those of home-growth, were every- 

 where more or less planted. They brought with them the 

 enfeebled and tainted constitution derived from the parent 

 stock. In the new soil they re-produced the old failings of 

 their worn-out constitution, and thus, little by little,' the 

 morbid condition or the so-called " yellows" spread to the 

 whole Northern and Eastern sections of the Union. 



From the history, let us turn to the nature of this 

 enfeebled state of the peach tree. Every good gardener 

 knows that if he desires to raise a healthy and vigorous 

 seedling plant, he must select seed from a parent that is of 

 itself decidedly healthy. Professor Lindley, in his Theory 

 of Horticulture, justly remarks: "All seeds will not pro- 

 duce equally vigorous seedlings, the healthiness of the new 

 plant will correspond with that of the seed from which it 

 sprung ." Again, the great Flemish pomologist, Dr. Van 

 Mons, declares that the more frequently a tree is repro- 

 duced continuously from its own seed, the more feeble and 

 short-lived do its descendants become. Moreover, the 

 peach is peculiarly constant in the reproduction of any con- 

 stitutional variation that may have arisen. A signal proof 

 of this is seen m the nectarine, which is merely a variety of 

 peach with a smooth skin, and not a distinct species at all, 

 yet it is perpetually re-produced without re\ 7 ersion by sow- 

 ing its seed. It is evident from these premises that the 

 constant sowing of the seeds of an enfeebled stock of peaches 

 would naturally produce a sickly and diseased race of trees. 

 The seedlings will often appear healthy at first, but the 

 taint will sooner or later show itself, and especially when 

 the tree is allowed to produce an over-crop. That bad soil 

 conditions and over-bearing will produce great debility in 

 any fruit tree is matter of common observation. Even the 

 apple, the hardiest of orchard trees, requires a whole year 

 to recover from the exhaustion caused by an unthinued 

 crop. The great natural luxuriance of the peach induces 



