THE PEACH. 
C03 
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 of prunirtg , 
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 
* Tlie 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 into 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. Thompson , 'were 
it allowed to expend all its accumulated sap every year , it would soon exhausi 
itself and die of old age." . Suburban Horticulturist. 
