1871 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



277 



beautiful works of nature, kindred and home, when 

 you are slumbering in the grave ? Far better these 

 for the perpetuation of your memory, and the 

 benefit of the advancing millions of coming time, 

 than all the monumental shafts and pillars of pol- 

 ished marble that ever graced the hero's tomb. 



Feacli Rot and the Curcniio. 



Peach rot is mostly connected with mechanical 

 injuries to the fruit. Any puncture or abrasion of 

 the skin, from whatever causes, will in most cases, 

 be followed by rot even in dry weather, and quite 

 certainly so in wet seasons. The chafing of peach- 

 es against each other or against the limbs of the 

 tree, punctures by bees or other insects which feed 

 upon the juices of the fruit, will all furnish condi- 

 tions which in damp weather surely lead to rot. 



But the damages done by the curculio, both in 

 depositing its eggs and in feeding, unquestionably 

 cause a very large proportion of the peach rot 

 which has become so wide spread. In all peach 

 growing neighborhoods the air is loaded with mil- 

 lions of the spores of this microscopic fungus 

 which we call rot, that attach themselves to the 

 surfaces of all the fruits, but which are powerless 

 for harm on the healthy and perfect skin of any 

 fruit ; but every injury which exposes the juice of 

 the fruit furnishes a suitable soil for their germina- 

 tion and growth. And as all fungoid growths are 

 greatly dependent upon moisture, this peach rot de- 

 velops with alarming rapidity in warm and show- 

 ery weather, while in very dry seasons it may be 

 so slow as to attract little notice. 



The rot also spreads fatally by contact, as every 

 peach hanging in contact with a rotten one is sure 

 to rot ; and the spatter and drip of the rain com- 

 municates the infection with great rapidity. This 

 we may call a tran.splanting of the infinitesimal fun- 

 gi. I have often seen half the fruit of a tree in- 

 fected with rot after a showery night, where on the 

 previous day but a dozen injured specimens could be 

 seen. In seasons when the rot prevails badly 

 we hear much complaint of peaches that are ap- 

 parently sound when packed for the market, 

 rotting down in the packages in course of trans- 

 portation — the darkness and moisture in the close 

 air of the cars, with the bruises incidental to pack- 

 ing and carriage, all being favorable to the growth 

 of the fungus 



These facts lead to several important conclu- 

 sions : 



1. Peaches will be more exempt from rot, other 

 circumstances remaining the same, in a dry soil and 

 in a dry climate. 



2. Orchards should be planted less closely than 

 has been common in many sections. Twenty feet 

 each way is a safer distance than sixteen, while 

 twenty-five or thirty may be still better. An open 



orchard can be better cultivated, will dry out quick- 

 er, and is more airy and healthy, and in all lespects 

 can be more thoroughly managed. 



3. Trees should be grown with high trunks to 

 facilitate clean culture, free circulation of the air, 

 easy access to the peach borer, and cheap methods 

 of killing the curculio. 



4. The pruning should be such as to expose the 

 fruit well to the .sun, and to secure large and healthy 

 leaves and vigorous growth of wood. 



5. The fruit should be thinned on the tree, so that 

 no two peaches will ever come in contact by growth 

 and the more space given to each fruit the larger 

 and finer it will be. I would emphasise this point 

 of thinning so much as to isolate every peach, as 

 the sanitary results, as well as the superior size, 

 color and flavor of the fruit, will abundantly justify 

 the expense. I have to-day compared peaches so 

 treated with those grown thickly on the tree, and 

 found their average weight to be fully three times 

 greater, the cultivation and other treatment being 

 the same. It need not be argued that a given num- 

 ber of pounds of large fruit will bring a much 

 higher price than the small specimens, or will find 

 a ready sale, while the little ones rot down waiting 

 for a purchaser. 



6. All trees in fruit should be faithfully exam- 

 ined every day as soon as any rot appears, and all 

 rotting or injured specimens be removed and de- 

 stroyed. Rotting fruit should never be picked into 

 the same basket with that designed for market, as 

 the contact with the aflccted fruits will be very 

 likely to cause decay in the package of the sound 

 ones. 



7. The last condition of success, or rather the 

 first most vital and indispen.«iblc coudition, which 

 is more important than all the others together, and 

 without which all the others will prove of little 

 value, is curculio killing. — Cor. N. T. Tribune. 



A Seedling Pear. — The Farribault (Min.)i?(;- 

 publican says : Mr. O. F. Brand, of the Parribault 

 Nursery, left with us, on Monday, some pears 

 grown in Minnesota, which were of fair size and 

 excellent flavor. The tree on which they were 

 produced was grown from the seed of a Canadian 

 pear tree. It has endured our climate 15 years 

 without injury, and has borne fruit three years. It 

 appears to be a desirable acquisition. 



Seven Best Autumn Pears. — The Rural South- 

 erner says: The following seven varieties, we be- 

 lieve with Mr. Peters, to be the best varieties for 

 autumn : Bartlett, Seckel, Dueliess de Aygotileme, 

 Belle Lucrative, Winter Nellis, Mix and Beuere 

 Diet The world may be searched over, and no 

 better varieties can be found for this section. 



