B L I 
again!! which vye know not any remedy. This is called a 
fire-blaj} x which i(i a few hours has not only deflroyed the 
fruit arid leaves, but many times parts of trees,, and fome- 
tinics entire trees, have been killed by it. This is fuppofed 
to'be effected by volumes of tranfparent flying vapours, 
which among the many forms they revolve into, may 
fometimes approach fo near to an hemifpltere or hemicy- 
Iinder* either in their upper or lov er flirfaces, as thereby 
to inake the beams of the fun converge enough to fcorch 
the plants or tt'ees they fall upon, in proportion to the 
greater or lefs convergency of the fun’s rays. Againfl 
this enemy to fruits, there is no guard to our trees, nor 
any remedy to cure it : but, as this more frequently hap¬ 
pens in clofe plantations (where the ftagnating vapours 
from the earth, and the plentiful perfpirations from the 
trees, are pent in for want of a free air to diflipate and dif- 
pel them ; which are often obferved, in hill weather, to 
afeend in lo plentiful a manner, as to be feen by the naked 
eye, but efpecially with reflecting telefcopes, loas to make 
a clear and diftirict objeCt become dim and tremulous,) 
than in tliofe that are planted at a greater difrance, or are 
not furrounded with hills or woods ; this directs us, in the 
fil'd planting of kitchen-gardens and orchards, &c. that 
we. fhould allow a greater distance between the trees, and 
to make choice of clear healthy fituations, that the air 
may freely pafs between the trees to diflipate thofe va¬ 
pours before they are formed into fucli volumes, whereby 
the circumambient air will be dear, and lefs fubjedt to in¬ 
juries ; as alfo the fruits which are produced in this clearer 
air, will be much better tailed than thole that are fur- 
rounded with a thick rancid air; for, as fruits are often in 
a refpiring (late, they confequently, by imbibing a part of 
thefe vapours, are rendered crude and ill-tailed, which is 
often the cafe witli a great part of our fruits in England. 
But that blights are frequently no more than an inward 
weaknefs or diftemper in trees will evidently appear, if 
we confider how often it happens, that trees againfl the 
fame wall, exppfed to the fame afpecl, and equally enjoy¬ 
ing the advantages of fun and air, with every other cir- 
cumflance which might render them equally healthy, yet 
very often are obferved to differ greatly in their Ifrength 
and vigour; and as often we obferve the weak trees to be 
continually blighted, when the vigorous ones in the fame 
fituation fhall efcape very well ; which muff, therefore, 
in a great meafure, be aferibed to their healthy conftitu- 
tion. This weaknefs, therefore in trees, niufl proceed 
either from a want of a fufficient fupply of nourifhment to 
maintain them in perfect vigour, or from fome ill qualities 
in the foil where they grow, or, perhaps, from fome bad 
quality in the flock, or inbred diftemper of the buds or 
cyons, which they had imbibed from their mother tree, or 
from mifmanagement in the pruning, &c. all which are 
productive of diftempers in trees, and of which they are 
with difficulty cured. Now, if thisbe occafioned by a weak¬ 
nefs in the tree, we fhould endeavour to trace out the true 
caufe; firft, whether it has been occafioned by ill manage¬ 
ment in the pruning, which is too often the cafe : for how 
common is it to obferve peach-trees trained up to the full 
length of their branches every year, fo as to be carried 
to. the top of the wall in a few years after planting, when 
at the fame time the fhoots for bearing have been fo weak, 
as fcarcely to have ftrength to produce their flowers: bur, 
this being the utmofl of their vigour, the blofl'oms fall off, 
and, many times, the branches decay, either the greatefl 
part of their length, or quite down to the place where 
they were produced ; and this, whenever it happens tube 
the cafe, is aferibed to a blight. Others there are, who 
ftiffei their trees to grow juft as they are naturally difpof- 
ed, during the futnmer feafon, without flopping fhoots, or 
disburdening their trees of luxuriant branches; by which 
means two, three, or four, fhoots fhall exha'ufl the greatefl 
part of the nourifhment of the trees all the fummer ; which 
fhoots, at the winter pinning, are entirely cut out; fo that 
the ftrength of the tree was employed only in nourishing 
ufelefs branches, while the fruit branches are thereby ren- 
G H T. ui 
dered fo weak, as not to be able to preferve themfelves. 
The remedies to this evil have been explained in the article 
of Pruning Pcac/i-trees, &c. under Amygdalus. 
But, if the weaknefs of the tree proceeds from an inbred 
diftemper, it is the better way to remove the tree at firft : 
and, after renewing your earth, plant a new one in its 
place. Or if your foil be a hot burning gravel or land, 
in which your peach-trees are planted, you will generally 
find this will be conflantly their cafe, after their roots 
have got beyond the earth of your borders ; for which 
reafon, it is much more advifeable to dig them up, and 
plant grapes, figs, apricots, or any other fort of fruit, 
which may do well in fuch a foil, rather than to be an¬ 
nually di(appointed of your hopes ; for, by a variety of 
experiments, it has been found that apricots attract and 
imbibe moifture with a much greater force than peaches 
and nedtarines; and confequently, are better able to at¬ 
tract the nutritive particles from the earth, than the 
others* which require to be planted in a generous foil, 
capable of affording them a fufficiency of nourifhment with¬ 
out much difficulty : and it is in fuch places we often fee 
peaches do’wonders ; efpecially if affifted by art ; but, as 
for the vine and fig-tree, they perfpire very (lowly, and are 
very often in an imbibing ftate, (fo that a great part of 
that fine racy flavour, with which their fruits abound 
when planted in a dry foil, is probably owing to thofe re¬ 
fined aerial principles, which are collected when in a (late 
of refpiration ;) and therefore, as thefe trees delight not 
in drawing much watery nourifhment from the earth, fo- 
they will much better fucceed in. fuch a foil, than in one- 
that is more generous : we fhould therefore always en¬ 
deavour to fuit the particular forts of fruits to the nature 
of our foil, and not pretend to have all forts of fruit good, 
in the fame. 
To prevent blights, many people burn heaps of weeds, 
litter, chaff, and other combuflibles, on the wind fide of 
their gardens, orchards, &c. whenever they perceive a 
four, infedted, eafterly wind blow. This impregnates the 
air, and fumigates the trees ; whereby blights are not-only 
faid to be prevented, but it is added, that thefe fires often 
deftroy the caterpillars and other infedts, even after they, 
have begun to devour the tree$. Another method of pre- 
ferving plants and trees from blight is, by Iprinkling to-, 
bacco-duft, or pepper-duft, or waffling the leave's with: 
water wherein tobacco-ftalks have been infilled ; which, 
it is faid, is prefent death to all infects and animalcules. 
There is alfo, in the New Tranfadtions of the Imperial 
Academy of Sciences at Peterfburgh for 1797, a method 
fuggefted by M. Socoloff, for driving away or deftrbying' 
all kinds of earth-worms and blight-infedls, infefting gar¬ 
dens and fields. We fhall ftate the recipe in his own- 
words : “ As the destructive power of quick-lime, height¬ 
ened by a fixed alkali, which corrodes, dillblves, and de-- 
firoys all the tender parts of animals, has been long known, 
I thought this mixture would be the belt means for ac¬ 
complishing theobjedl I had in view. I took three parts,, 
therefore, of quick-lime, newly made, and two parts of a 
Saturated folution of fixed alkali in water, and thence ob¬ 
tained a fomeivhat milky liquor fufficiently cauftic, highly 
hoftile and poilonous to earth-worms and other fatal 1 in¬ 
fects ; for, as foon as it touched any part of their bodies, 
it occafioned in them violent fymp touts of great uneafi- 
nefs. If this liquor be poured into thofe hole,s, in which 
the earth-worms relide . under ground, they immediately 
throw themfelves out, as if driven by force; and, after, 
various contortions, they languish and die. If the leaves 
of plants or fruit-trees, jnfedled with blights or caterpil¬ 
lars, which are fio deftrmftive to them, be fprinkled over 
with this liquor, the infects Suddenly drop to the ground. 
I had not an opportunity of trying a like experiment on 
locufls ; yet we may conclude, and not without probabi¬ 
lity, frofn their nature, and the general definitive quali¬ 
ties of the above liquor, that they, in the like manner, 
may be driven from corn-fields, if it be poflible to lprinkle 
the corn with the liquor by means of a machine. With 
regard 
