4i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 21, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Defective Peach Trees. —Peach nov¬ 
elties are almost as plentiful as new straw¬ 
berries. Seedling trees are easily grown, 
and sometimes commence bearing the 
third year. Pits from really good varie¬ 
ties as a rule do not germinate well. 
Seedlings, except with a few well-fixed 
inferior strains, usually fall off in value 
from- the parent, but an occasional one 
takes a different turn and develops quali¬ 
ties in its early stages that encourage the 
raiser to name it and promote its dissem¬ 
ination. If this were done only after its 
reliability had been established by thor¬ 
ough tests, including two or more genera¬ 
tions of bud propagation, less harm would 
follow than at present. The novelty might 
then be considered reasonably stable and 
would stand or fall on its merits or de¬ 
merits as compared with standard varie¬ 
ties in each locality. Unfortunately this 
is not always the case. The raiser or 
propagator is attracted by the fine appear¬ 
ance or special qualities of the fruits as 
they ripen on the young seedling tree, 
which may be particularly well situated; 
buds are taken and a number of trees 
propagated. Then come glowing descrip¬ 
tions, often written in perfect good faith; 
colored plates, boom literature and nov¬ 
elty prices. It may be that the seedling 
has some defect or vice of constitution 
that does not show in its early stages of 
bearing. It may produce several fine crops 
before showing weakness, and then fall 
off rapidly, or it may thrive locally many 
years and yet the propagated trees may 
never amount to anything when grown 
elsewhere. Expectant purchasers are dis¬ 
appointed in the outcome and are likely to 
charge the disseminator with wilful mis¬ 
representation. 
Some Examples. —Five years ago the 
Rural Grounds received among many trial 
varieties a new white peach from New 
England and a yellow-fleshed one from 
the highlands of southwestern Pennsyl¬ 
vania. They were offered as remarkably 
large and fine varieties of their respective 
types, and were thought to possess special 
qualities that would render them real ac¬ 
quisitions. In both cases the trees sent 
us were propagated direct from the par¬ 
ents, then in the flush of early and pro¬ 
fuse bearing. The stocks used were raised 
from the best southern pits that could be 
procured. High prices were asked for 
these novelties, and one, at least, was 
quite widely distributed. The trees were 
given good care and grew thriftily two 
years, and then showed weaknesses that 
culminated in that indeterminate state of 
debility known as gummosis. A few poor, 
insipid fruits were ripened by each vari¬ 
ety before the trees sickened enough to 
compel their removal. We have every 
reason to believe the nurseries sending 
out these failures were sincere in their 
hopes and estimates as founded on the 
fruits borne by the parent trees, but they 
were too anxious to hurry the varieties 
on the market as novelties to give them 
the thorough tests needed. This experi¬ 
ence is repeated more or less extensively 
with new trial varieties on the Rural 
Grounds each year, and with every experi¬ 
mental fruit grower, and only shows the 
ticklish balance of vitality in our modern 
peaches. A new variety can make a won¬ 
derful showing in its early fruiting stage 
and still be inherently weak—doomed to 
short individual life and practically un¬ 
able to reproduce its qualities by either 
seed or bud prppagation. In the instances 
quoted careful inquiry developed that all 
the young trees propagated, as far as 
heard from, though budded on different 
lots of seedlings stocks have turned out 
about the same as those tested here and 
the parent trees are now showing much 
weakness. 
Peach Stocks Unreliable. —The peach 
is one of the most important of American 
fruits, only second in general value to the 
apple. Although native of Asia, it has 
found its highest fruit development in 
the milder portions of temperate North 
America, but in so doing seems to have 
lost vegetative vigor. The group of 
symptoms known as yellows, rosette, gum¬ 
mosis and little-peach, all indicate lowered 
vitality and diminished resistance to ex¬ 
ternal influences. They have all appeared 
in destructive form since the renewal of 
interest in peach culture about 30 years 
ago, though probably existing since peach 
trees were first brought to America. 
Whether definite diseases in the usual ac¬ 
ceptation of the term or merely obscure 
processes of devitalization, they are in¬ 
creasingly destructive to the peach indus¬ 
try. There is growing difficulty in pro¬ 
curing good pits and finding healthy trees 
of the different varieties from which to 
cut buds. With the greatest care taken in 
propagation many peach nurseries turn out 
infected trees. The complaint of being 
“soaked” with diseased trees, even from 
hitherto reliable nurseries, is almost uni¬ 
versal among planters of experience. The 
attempt to grow one’s trees seldom turns 
out much better. Young trees carrying 
the tendency to any of the diseases enu¬ 
merated usually look well and grow in a 
most satisfactory manner until the strain 
of fruiting begins. Buds may be taken 
from the most promising trees and still 
carry susceptibility to serious weakness. 
“Tennessee natural pits” of the most ap¬ 
proved brand may be planted, and the re¬ 
sults prove particularly disastrous. The 
peach, as an orchard tree, is at best short¬ 
lived. It is the exception to get more than 
five or six good crops from trees re¬ 
garded as healthy, but the present weak- 
kneed output often does not pretend to 
fruit at all. Careful selection of buds 
from mature trees, and, above all. selec¬ 
tion from trees actually showing good 
health and vigor, is imperatively needed, 
and in time will do wonders toward re¬ 
storing peach propagations to their pris¬ 
tine vigor. 
Tennessee Pits Not All Good. —“Ten¬ 
nessee natural pits” is a trade name for 
pits collected from seedling trees growing 
with little or no cultivation in the high¬ 
lands of Tennessee, North Carolina and 
adjoining Southern States. These trees 
are descendants of varieties probably 
brought from Mediterranean ports by the 
early settlers of the Gulf States, and have 
nearly reverted to the original type as 
found naturally in Persia and Northern 
China. The tree is a strong, thrifty grow¬ 
er, with dark, heavy foliage, but is not 
particularly long-lived. The fruits vary 
considerably, but are generally of poor 
quality, with thick, woolly hides, thin, 
leathery flesh and large, rough seeds or 
pits. Occasionally fruits are found of fair 
eating quality, but it is the exception to 
find a tolerable peach in these localities 
except when grown on budded trees un¬ 
der cultivation. The peach tree finds a 
congenial home in the climate and soil of 
these southern highlands as in its native 
Orient, and often forms, in the blooming 
season, quite a dominant feature in the 
landscape, but not all the trees are healthy, 
and collections of pits are indiscrimi¬ 
nately made wherever they can be found 
to meet the increasing demand from nur¬ 
serymen and propagators. Yellows and 
associated diseases are spreading over 
these favored regions much faster than 
has been supposed, and the difficulty of 
getting reliable pits has enormously in¬ 
creased. These wild or degenerate peaches 
were largely disseminated by the soldiers 
during the prolonged military operations 
of the Civil War, and soon after its close 
the pits came into vogue as the best that 
could be had for propagating purposes, 
but a great falling off in their reliability 
is now evident. 
Breed for Sound Pits? —The best way 
out would seem to be to breed for sound, 
vigorous, disease-free pits, just as grape- 
growers are breeding resistant stocks for 
grafting choice grape varieties. A start 
should be made under State or National 
supervision by expert selection of the 
most healthy and promising types, and 
careful culture for seed production in an 
isolated locality. Little cross-breeding 
would be advisable, but rigid selection 
would promise in time a strain of pits 
that could be counted on to produce good 
stocks. A start should be made in this 
direction to rescue the peach industry from 
one of the difficulties in which it is floun¬ 
dering. w. v. F. 
ACME LAWN MOWERS 
Direct from Factory to User, 
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The Auto-Spray 
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r. C. BROWN * CO., 
, 2 68 Stilt St.. Rochester _N. Y. 
Leggett’s Dusters 
UP-TO-DATE 
BUG KILLERS 
for Potatoes, Tobacco, Farm Crops, 
Vineyard, etc. Two-row machines, 
CHAMPION, - - $7.50 
LITTLE GIANT, - 5.5C 
The powder is evenly distributed 
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BROWNIE (gJkdkn), $3.50 
JUMBO ( OE ^ D ). $25.00 
Write for circulars. Agents wanted. 
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301 Pearl Street. New York. 
The Pump 
that Pumps 
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DEALER 0 Double-Aoting, Lift. 
R Power, Tank and Spray 
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8tore Ladders, Etc. 
Barn Door Hangers 
Aluminum Finished 
HAY TOOLS 
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r.K.My»r«k Hro.i.H,.4,0. 
codling 
Diaparene kills both broods. Also 
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BOWKER INSECTICIDE CO., 
N. Y., Boston & Cincinnati 
You can 
cover SO to 40 acres 
per day with 
TShe Watson 
Four Row Potato Sprayer 
Straddles 2rows, sprays 
4atat!me. Wheels ad- 
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Free instruction and formula book shows the famous Garfield, £m* 
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Field Force Pump Co., 2 11th St., Elmira, N.Y, 
% 
V&TS. SAVt* 
USED FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN FOR 20 YEARS. 
Sold by Seed Dealers of America. 
Saves Currants, Potatoes, Cabbage. Melons, Flowers, Trees and 
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B. HAMMOND, - Fishkill-on-Hudson. New York. 
HUB BARD’S FERTILIZERS 
ARE 
THE 
BEST ON EARTH. 
Manufactured by THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO., Middletown, Conn. 
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$ 37.60 
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Straight Sill 
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The Ohio Carriage IWfg. Co., (H. C. PHELPS, President) 5539 Sixth St., Cincinnati, OhioT 
