1909. 
THE RURAL NEW-VURKER 
027 
WHAT IS PEACH "YELLOWS?" 
Suggestions to Peach Growers. 
Much has been written about peach 
“‘yellows." We have been asked by 
several people to describe the disease 
and tell what it looks like. Since the 
wise men who make a business of study¬ 
ing such things cannot agree in placing 
“yellows," we will not attempt to tell 
just what it is. A picture at Fig. 511, 
shows a tree in the last stages. Prof. 
G. P. Clinton of the Connecticut Sta- 
pare plant food to supply its needs. Prof. 
Clinton believes in this theory, modified 
by the further belief that such weather 
conditions as Winter freezing and hard 
Summer drought develop the enzymes 
or ferments which cause the disease. If 
this theory is correct, and it seems the 
most reasonable one yet advanced, tha 
disease would be carried from diseased 
to healthy stock by budding. As a re¬ 
sult of these studies the following sug¬ 
gestions are made to Connecticut peach 
fine. It is not considered at present that 
such powder has any agricultural value. 
We understand that black slate shale is 
sometimes used as a surface dressing in 
German vineyards. It helps the grapes 
to ripen, but its value lies wholly in its 
dark color. Black or dark-colored sub¬ 
stances put on light soils make them 
warmer, for as all know, dark sub¬ 
stances attract and retain heat. These 
results from coloring the soil might be 
credited to actual plant food in the 
tion gives what seems to us the fair- growers: 
slate, but that would be much like telling 
est statement of the matter in his last 
report. 
There are various theories about the 
disease. It has been proved that “yel¬ 
lows" can be budded into healthy trees. 
There is no positive proof that it is con¬ 
tagious. The worst attacks of the dis¬ 
ease seem to follow seasons when there 
has been injury or weakening to the 
trees. When in a very hard Winter the 
trees are badly frozen before the wood 
is fully developed “yellows” may be 
expected. Prof. Clinton points out that 
in Connecticut the present great trouble 
from this disease follows two very hard 
Winters and two very dry Summers. 
On December 2, 1902, after an open Fall, 
the mercury suddenly fell to zero, wood 
of young apple and peach was badly 
hurt. In some nurseries these injured 
(1) Locution.—Peach orchards should 
lie planted only in the southern half of the 
»Stnte, preferably not too dose to the 
Sound. Along the Connecticut Valley 
they may extend further north than the 
center of the State. Low lands should be 
avoided, and as a rule only the higher hills 
selected, where the exposure is such as to 
avoid as much as possible molsr winds in 
Winter and early development of the buds 
in Spring. Good drainage is necessary to 
avoid root Injuries. 
(2) Inspection.—Only the best nursery 
stock should be used, free from all sus¬ 
picion of Winter injury or yellows. Win¬ 
ter injury can be told by the blackened 
wood. As it is not always possible to de¬ 
tect yellows In nursery trees, the young 
orchard should be watched during the first, 
few years, in order to promptly remove 
any suspicious trees, for it is generally sup¬ 
posed that, yellows is contagious. In the 
bearing orchards, also, any tree showing 
signs of yellows should be promptly cut 
down and burned. Such trees are of little 
value anyway, and it is best to be on the 
safe side of the question. Such is also 
the practice of good orchardists In the best 
peach-growing districts. 
(3) Fertilization.—Potash is a very 
necessary element for peach growing, anil 
so fertilizers should be well supplied with 
IN THE LAST STAGES Oh 
peaches were cut back once or even 
twice. 
They started, but were too badly frozen, 
and when planted in orchards went down 
with “yellows.” . Again in 1903-4 there 
was a very severe Winter, which in¬ 
jured trees, while the droughts of 1907 
and 1908 also held them back. These 
tilings made the trees unusually weak, 
and the disease, whatever it is, carried 
them off. Another theory is that “yel¬ 
lows” is caused by soil exhaustion, par¬ 
ticularly potash. Chemical analysis has 
shown a lack of potash in both wood 
and fruit. Practical peach growers like 
J. II. Hale and Charles Lyman have 
found that potash helped, if not saved, 
diseased peach trees. Scientific experi¬ 
ment, on the other hand, has shown 
that potash is not a full cure or pre¬ 
vention of the true “yellows.” It ap¬ 
pears, however, that many yellow col¬ 
ored or sick-looking trees are supposed 
to have this disease when they may be 
suffering from frozen wood, drought, or 
even horers. 
Another theory which some of the 
scientific men hold is that “yellows” is 
a germ disease—that is, developed and 
spread by bacteria. The main argument 
in favor of this theory is that the dis¬ 
ease is thought to be contagious, yet 
this fact has never been definitely 
proved. Another theory is that the 
“yellows” is caused by “enzymes”—that 
is, unorganized ferments. On this the¬ 
ory the disease would be called some¬ 
thing of the nature of indigestion, so 
that the tree could not digest or pre- 
“YELLOWS.” Fig. 511. 
it. Care, however, should be used not to 
force trees too much, especially with late 
applications of commercial fertilizers. This 
is especially true of sodium nitrate. Such 
trees are apt to go into the Winter with 
tiie wood in an immature condition, and 
are then especially subject to Winter in¬ 
jury. 
(4) Cultivation.—Good and frequent 
cultivation during the first of the season 
is very desirable, but after midsummer 
should lie discontinued, since late cultiva¬ 
tion, like lute applications of fertilizers, 
may prevent proper maturity of the wood. 
Perhaps after cultivation is over it will be 
well in some cases to seed down the land 
with a quick-growing leguminous cover 
crop which can be plowed under the next 
Spring. This will help to supply the ni¬ 
trogen, and also give more or less protec¬ 
tion against Winter injury to the roots, 
especially where the snow blows off or is 
lacking. Green (Ohio Agr. Exp. Station 
Roll. 157. 1904) found in the study of 
Winter injury to peach trees in Ohio that 
where the trees were mulched or protected 
by Crimson clover, or other cover crops, 
root injury was much less. A mulch of 
earth thrown up around tile younger frees 
in the Fall and removed In the Spring 
also seems to he of value in lessening col¬ 
lar girdle. _ 
The Value of Crushed Slate. 
If. G. »*?., /I I drone, Mann .—What would 
be the value, ns a commercial fertilizer, of 
a slate shale if ground fine, and what 
crops and what soils would be most bone- 
fitted by an application of it? The analysis 
is as follows: Loss by ignition and organic 
matter, 3.88 per cent ; alumina, 24.14 : sili¬ 
ca, 5(5.42; protoxide of Iron. 4.4(5; Iime, 
.52; magnesia, 2.28; potash, 5.53; soda, 
3.15. (Note contains 3 per cent iron.) 
Ans. —With our present chemical 
knowledge no agricultural value would 
be given to such material. We would 
not advise a farmer to pay anything for 
it. Tt is said to contain 5 T 1> per cent of 
potash, but none of this potash seems 
to he available to plants. Tt would be 
little if any more useful than so much 
granite or feldspar crushed or ground 
a man that a warm suit of clothing 
filled his stomach. .Several parties seem 
to be putting a crushed rock on the 
market—to be sold as a fertilizer. Thev 
should he valued by the amount of avail¬ 
able plant food they contain, for that is 
the only safe standard. 
A “PROMISING” (PERFORMING) SEED¬ 
LING POTATO. 
Lust Spring I set out several hundred 
Dwarf Champion tomato plants, grown 
from seed bought in Albany, none of which 
was more than si.x inches in height at 
time of setting. Three or four weeks later, 
while cultivating, I noticed that one of 
the plants 1 had set was a potato seeding, 
This plant lias been closely watched during 
the Summer in the “fondly cherished 
hope” that it might produce a diminutive 
tuber or two which would survive the Win¬ 
ter and germinate next year; consequently 
E. K. Bennett’s article, page 840, was read 
witli unusual interest. On September 30, 
thinking possibly there might he a frost 
before morning, I went out to cover the 
vine, and stopped to stir the surface of the 
bill with my fingers, when, greatly to my 
surprise, I touched a tuber. Carefully un¬ 
covering tiie top I found it to he three 
inches and a quarter in length, larger 
than any double-yolked hen’s egg we had 
ever seen, while close against it nestled 
another as large as an average-sized hen’s 
egg. The potatoes, which do not look as 
though they had completed their growth, 
have a very transparent skin with a pink 
blush. The vine is only nine inches long 
witli eight branches raugiug from three to 
seven inches' in length. I hope to be able 
to harvest tills prodigy in good shape. The 
variety will be named “Franklin Sherman," 
as a meet punishment to that gentleman 
for having sold me "adulterated” tomato 
seed. I have never .been a very “enthusi¬ 
astic” kicker against adulterated seed, and 
this new potato gives additional force to 
the lesson often taught me before to he 
thankful that things are no worse than 
they are. I. s. ai.briqht. 
Albany Co., N. Y. 
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