PEACH-TREK. 



235 



tree, about a foot high, so as completely to cover that part 

 of the bark kept moist and tender at the surface of the 

 ground. This hillock will not stand so long at one height, 

 as to tender the bark above, as the rain will gradually wash 

 it down level with the surface ; and it must be raised again 

 every summer. 



" To take out the worm, the roots must be uncovered, 

 and the spot looked for where the gum oozes out, following 

 the cavity round with the point of a knife, till you come to 

 the solid wood, and lay the whole open : the worm will be 

 found with a white body and black head ; which must be 

 destroyed, and the holes carefully filled up with cow ma- 

 nure, rendered adhesive by sand, or lime and ashes, as di- . 

 reeled by Forsyth. 



" Soap-suds, heated after a family wash, and poured on 

 the roots of trees about the middle of August, have been 

 used with success in destroying the eggs or the young 

 worm. 



' According to Mr. John Ellis, of New Jersey, the in- 

 Jury arising from the worm may be prevented in the follow- 

 ing way : 



" In the spring, when the blossoms are out, clear away 

 the dirt, so as to expose the root of the tree, to the depth of 

 three inches ; surround the tree with straw about three feet 

 long, applied lengthwise, so that it may have a covering 

 one inch thick, which extends to the bottom of the hole^ 

 the but-ends of the straw resting on the ground at the 

 bottom ; bind this straw round the tree with three bands, 

 one near the top, one at the middle, and the third at the 

 surface of the earth ; then fill up the hole at the root with ^ 

 earth, and press it closely round the straw. When the 

 white frosts appear, the straw should be removed, and the 

 tree remain uncovered, until the blossoms put out in the 

 spring. 



" ' By this process, the fly is prevented from depositing its 

 egg within three feet of the root ; and, although it may place 

 the egg above that distance, the worm travels so slow that 

 it cannot reach the ground before frost, and therefore is kill- 

 ed before it is able to injure the tree. 



" ' The truth of the principle is proved by the follow- 

 ing fact. I practised this method with a large number of 

 peach-trees, and they flourished remarkably without any 

 •appearance of the worm for several years, when I was in- 

 duced to discontinue the straw with about twenty of them. 

 All those which were without the straw have declined^ while 



