1850. 
205 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
useful to receive and record all the observations 
which may be made, relative to this formidable ma¬ 
lady. 
The following remarks of our correspondent, re¬ 
lative to the 'periodical appearance of the fire-blight, 
will be new to our readers, but we fear the rule will 
be regarded by some as established as much by its 
exceptions as by direct evidence:— 
“ The same disorder prevailed among the apple, 
pear, and quince trees, on the banks of the Hudson 
in 1780, and continued its ravages until 1793. 
Twenty-two years after, (1802,) it again made its 
appearance, and continued its attacks for 4 or 5 
years. Again 22 y«ars elapsed, and in 1824 the 
same disorder prevailed, and lasted 4 years;—and 
in 1846 we were once more sufferers from the same 
cause—our pear trees are still prostrated by its fa¬ 
tal attacks. This disease has been called by some 
“fire blight”—it has been attributed to a “coup de 
soliel”—one writer says it is produced by the aphis 
lanata, a small insect covered by a fine white wool • 
—the insect which came under my observation, is 
very different in every characteristic—so small as to 
escape notice in the first stage; and so similar to a 
Jly at maturity as to mislead an inattentive obser¬ 
ver.” 
Experiments in Raising Seedling Peaches. 
The cultivation of the peach having engaged 
some of my attention. I collected all the fine sorts I 
could get; still for a while I had no good ripe peach¬ 
es. Seven years ago, I went to Mr. Conklin’s ex¬ 
tensive peach orchard about the 20th of September, 
and bought two bushels on purpose to get the seeds. 
We sought the very best we could find; his early 
peaches were nearly gone; I took the last on the 
trees. That brought the ripening of them to the 
period I picked the peaches off, 20 days later. The 
Columbia was just beginning to ripen ; I got the first 
ripe. That brought, them two weeks earlier than 
the original. I planted the stones in rows, like 
planting potatoes, only covered shallow, following 
nature as near as I could. All brought the same 
sort in color and appearance. The result is, 1 have 
the Morris White through the season; the Columbia 
and Early York also, so that the whole space is now 
filled with the same species from last of August to 
20th October, and any farmer, if he has one superi¬ 
or peach tree, can raise seedlings from it, and 
change to early and late to last the whole season. 
But plant the stones when fresh, if you expect to 
raise a good tree, for if they become dry, you will 
get a poor peach something resembling the original, 
but worthless. My seedlings, out of about 500 
trees, which I planted seven years ago, contain on¬ 
ly about four trees that are not as good, and many 
much better than the original. Thos. Craighead, 
Jr. Whitehill , Cumberland Co., Pa., March. 
The importance of raising new varieties which 
shall be severally better adapted to the various and 
widely differing localities of our broad territory, 
than existing sorts, is becoming strongly felt by the 
cultivators of fruit. Experiments therefore, like 
the preceding, are of much interest and value, and 
our correspondent appears to have been unusually 
successful in the excellence of his results. 
The opinion is by no means uncommon, that by 
planting apple seeds and peach stones in the fruit, 
or perfectly fresh, the seedling will very nearly re¬ 
semble the original. This result can be confidently 
asserted only after repeated experiments in both 
ways side by side. Whether this has any influence 
whatever, is not perhaps as yet established. It is 
probable that the peculiar character of the seedling 
is chiefly if not wholly stamped upon the seed at the 
time of the impregnation of the ovule by the float¬ 
ing pollen; after causes may modify the result, but 
if so, in but small degree. At any rate, we do not 
find any modifying effect by freshness or age, in any 
of the common seeds sown .by the farmer, nor any 
thing of the kind in the cucumber, melon, and 
squash. Ed. 
The Peach Crop. 
Throughout Western New-York, there is a most 
promising appearance of an abundant crop of peach¬ 
es. The trees are loaded with blossoms. In a large 
portion of the northern States, appearances are 
equally favorable. Northern Ohio will doubtless 
afford an abundant supply, but in the central por¬ 
tions of that State the crop is thin, although in ma¬ 
ny localities a fair product will be obtained. It 
sometimes occurs that the crop is destroyed or in¬ 
jured late in spring, or after the present period, but 
such occurrences are unusual. We must not, how¬ 
ever, be too confident in advance, as it is better that 
our hopes should be exceeded than disappointed. 
Sweet and Sour Apple. 
I have observed several remarks on the Sweet and 
Sour apple in The Cultivator. I am in possession 
of a few facts which I have never seen published. 
The apple that I am ac quainted with has been grow¬ 
ing in what was formerly my father’s orchard ever 
since my recollection; there are now but three trees 
living; they do not mix as well as formerly. On 2 
of the trees I have not observed any except sour 
ones for two or three years; on the other tree, they 
still mix pretty well, though they are mostly all 
sweet or all sour, growing promiscuously. The sour 
apple is a perfect Rhode Island Greening, conse¬ 
quently a winter apple; the sweet is a fall apple, 
about half the size of the Greening, which causes 
the mixed apples to grow in ridges. The sweet ap¬ 
ple is an agreeable, pleasant apple. I have never 
seen the kind any where else. The wood of the tree 
is curly. Benj. Macomber. Grand Isle, Vt. 
The above described variety has been considera¬ 
bly cultivated in various parts of the Northern 
States. It is a very singular peculiarity of the 
fruit, that certain portions, and often the whole ap¬ 
ple, by a sort of diseased or imperfect growth, fails 
to develop the acid qualities of the juice. This im¬ 
perfect growth is shown by the smaller size of the 
sweeter portions, and by its whitish or blanched co¬ 
lor. A similar mixture of imperfect and healthy 
vegetable growth may be seen in the leaves of the 
ribbon grass; and the tendency to sweetness or in¬ 
sipidity in blanched substances is shown in celery 
and sea-kale, and in potatoes kept excluded from 
the light. 
It is a very common notion that this variety was 
originally produced by cutting through the centre, 
the buds of a sweet and sour apple, and joining the 
halves of each at the time of budding. But such a 
result is a physical impossibility. For in common 
budding and grafting, the union always takes place 
by the "granulations of the newly forming wood; a 
bud consists of a great number of minute and 
concentrically folded leaves, and all these edges 
cannot be made to coincide, much less to adhere 
together. If it were possible to cut directly through 
the vital point of the bud without killing it, and the 
two parts could be made to adhere; then, as in eve¬ 
ry other instance of union between two dissimilar 
varieties, each part would maintain its own identity. 
