182 
THE COW-PEA—PEACH—CTJBA-TOEOCCO, ETC. 
ing county of Jefferson, killed upward of 700 head 
of hogs for the supply of his own family, (and had 
not enough then,) which were fattened entirely in 
the pea-fields. 
Peach and Fig Orchard .—I have just completed 
the planting of a small peach and fig orchard here, 
embracing 350 trees of the former, and 50 of the 
latter; and three hands, besides what assistance I 
gave myself, have been busily occupied three days 
in doing it; two more following up and giving 
each tree a couple of buckets of water. I would 
certainly prefer that they had been planted last 
fall, but it rained so incessantly, that it was imprac¬ 
ticable. The peach-trees are one year’s growth 
from the kernel, and will be budded where they 
stand this summer. I would rather have had the 
kernel dropped where the trees now stand; but 
that, too, was impracticable. I shall cultivate the 
ground this season in Irish potatoes and early corn, 
both followed by peas and sweet-potatoes; some 
of it will, be in pindars, and some poor spots in 
peas, to he turned under green , followed by peas 
again, turned under. Each tree shall receive dur¬ 
ing the summer, a good barrowful of pure marl, 
placed immediately around it. 
The Yellows .—From what I see in various pa¬ 
pers, the disease called yellows is rapidly spread¬ 
ing among the peach-trees all around you. Opin¬ 
ions as to its nature and origin seem various 
enough, but I see no plausible method of cure or 
prevention. From what I have seen of it, I have 
no doubt of its being a disease sui generis, and if 
occasioned by an insect, certainly not by the 
JEgeria Exitiosa. So far as I can learn, the yel¬ 
lows is altogether or nearly unknown here, while 
the egeria is sufficiently troublesome. The peach- 
tree dies, with us, only of old age and neglect. 
Such extravagant crops I have never seen any¬ 
where—so heavy that the trees are seriously in¬ 
jured thereby. This is the worst kind of neglect. 
The fruit, when so very numerous, should be thin¬ 
ned out when as large as pigeon’s eggs, both to 
improve the quality and to favor the tree. You 
will will find a short article on “ the causes of de¬ 
cay in peach-trees, and their prevention,” in a little 
almanac I prepared in 1842, which contains the 
results of my experience and observation on this 
subject.* 
Some one suggested at a recent meeting of your 
excellent New York Farmer’s Club, that young 
trees produced from Mexican peach-stones, were 
free from yellows. I have no doubt that those 
from this part of the country would be equally so; 
and if it would be any object to some of your 
friends, sufferers from this disease, (and subscri¬ 
bers to at least two agricultural papers—you know 
my rule!) to try whether or no, I should take 
pleasure in saving some pits for them this sum¬ 
mer, as we have so far this season, the prospect 
of a full crop of every kind of fruit, which, how¬ 
ever, might he blasted by a late frost. JPeach, 
plum, pear, and fig-trees are all in full bloom, and 
* Note.— From the date of this letter our readers will 
see, that Mr. Affleck, when he wrote, could not have yet 
seen the able article on the Peach-Tree, by S. S., which 
appeared in our February and March numbers for this 
volume. In that, the yellows is attributed to the aphides 
or plant-lice— Ed. 
have been for two weeks past. It is rare, indeed, 
that our peach-trees repudiate the debt they owe 
the careful cultivator; so that even your fastidious 
New Yorkers need not mistrust them, though they 
do come from Mississippi! 
Cuha-Tohacco .—I wish to express my thanks, 
as one much interested in the introduction of ad¬ 
ditional staple crops to the south, to the author of 
that article on the culture and curing, &c., of 
Cuba-tobacco, copied in the last volume of the 
Agriculturist, page 313. I hope that it will be the 
means of inducing a fair trial to be made, of its 
value as a crop. There are always upon planta¬ 
tions of any size, several hands, who could be 
much more profitably employed at in-door work, 
such as cigar-making, during inclement weather, 
and indeed during all the year, unless in cotton¬ 
picking time. It is undoubtedly for the interest 
of the cotton-planter to use every means in his 
power to find profitable employment for as many 
hands as possible out of the cotton crop, so as to 
lessen the production of that staple. There ought 
to be an annual convention of cotton-planters held 
in New Orleans, to discuss and devise means for 
advancing and sustaining their interests as a body. 
But I fear I shall not live to see that day, when 
any such measures will be carried out. But to re¬ 
turn to our subject. I have now three small par¬ 
cels of Cuba tobacco-seed in the ground, superior im¬ 
ported seed, and I intend following implicitly the 
course laid down in that article. You shall hear 
the result. 
Migration of Birds .—They must have had a 
moderate, open winter north, and northwest of 
us, to what they had during that of’42 and ’43, if 
we may judge from the movements or migration 
of the birds, a subject which is deserving of more 
notice from farmers, and of record in farming pa¬ 
pers than it receives. During the winter preceding 
this, the open commons, pastures, and cotton- 
fields, were frequented, for several weeks, by lar^e 
flocks of a plover, which I am inclined to think is 
the golden-plover, (charadrius pluvialis of Wil¬ 
son,) though differing slightly in its markings and 
size. They afford capital eating, as I proved to 
the extent of sundry dozens. The same birds are 
to be found in vast numbers on the prairies of Illi¬ 
nois, during an open winter or early spring, and I 
presume were driven thus far south by the severity 
of that season there. The robin (T. Migratorius) 
and the cedar-bird (Ampelis Americana) were also 
unusually numerous. This past winter, neither 
robins nor plovers have been seen, and but very 
few cedar-birds. The sand-hill crane is also but 
poorly represented this season. 
The Season .—I was told, last week, that one of 
the most experienced overseers in Concordia par¬ 
ish, opposite us here, had finished planting up¬ 
ward of 300 acres of cotton. This is unusually 
early—three weeks too early, at least. Certainly 
the weather for the last four weeks has been very 
tempting—would rate as a pretty full average 
sample of your summer assortment! I have in two 
thirds of my corn crop, and am nearly ready for my 
cotton-plan ling; and, from what I can learn, I am 
fully up with my neighbors. Thomas Affleck* 
Ingleside, Adams Co., Miss., March 5, 1844, 
