38 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ness of cultivation, certainty of crop and amount of pro¬ 
duce upon a given space of ground, they surpass all oth¬ 
ers. 
There is a sort of Eschalot, that has been cultivated and 
sold for the potato onion. Wherever this fraud has been 
practiced it has given the onion a bad name. The genu¬ 
ine article, properly cultivated, has, I believe, been uni¬ 
versally approved and highly valued. 
Noyes Darling. 
New-Haven, Ct., November 19, 1844. 
MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. 
Through the medium of the Cultivator—which my 
neighbor Tyson says, “ finds its way every where,” I 
wish to make known a new theory with regard to the 
cause of the premature decay of the peach tree; sug- 
gestinga mode for the prevention of a malady that has 
pervaded our orchards, in many instances, to their anni¬ 
hilation; the evil spreading far and wide, and exhibiting 
an inveteracy of character, that bids defiance to the thou- 
sand-and-one cures that have been guarantied to follow 
the adoption of about as many applications, external and 
internal, that have been made public. I lay it down as 
a melancholy fact, then, that the evil, whatever it be, 
and proceeding from whatever cause, has never yet been 
fully understood, or met by a proper antidote. And this 
conclusion will be more readily admitted, than the no¬ 
vel doctrine, “ that the yellows and the worm proceed 
from the same source, both being effects and not the im¬ 
mediate causes of disease;” it being now generally con¬ 
ceded, that our trees are as effectually destroyed by the 
former as the latter; nay, that trees affected by the yel¬ 
lows, will assuredly be destroyed by it, without the in¬ 
tervention of the worm in any of its stages, and at about 
the same period of time. Here, then, is one step gained. 
Then comes the idea that the disease is contagious, and 
to prevent its spreading, it will be necessary to remove 
the tree the moment its effects are visible; as, also, that 
a cure may be effected, by careful culture of the soil, or 
a top-dressing of alkaline substances, to correct the aci¬ 
dity produced by the putricity of the juices of the tree, 
it being admitted that oxygen is its basis. But although 
this treatment might be beneficial as a preventive, the 
expectation of a radical cure would be hopeless. 
A residence in this peach-growing district, affords in¬ 
cidents of the greatest variety, and cases for “ practice,” 
innumerable; indeed, it might be regarded as analagous 
to “ walking the hospitals,” by the medical student; 
while frequent examination of the orchards of the large 
peach-growers of Delaware and elsewhere, have abun¬ 
dantly satisfied me, that the evil is progressing, maugre 
all the care and industry of men, superlatively endowed 
by knowledge, experience, intelligence and untiring per¬ 
severance, “to the contrary notwithstanding.” Now 
these individuals have religiously kept their orchards 
under constant tillage, for the sole purpose of preserving 
the health of their trees; convinced, that without such 
incessant and careful culture, they could not be kept in 
existence; yet they find the disease is there, and with 
all their marling, manuring, and plowing three times a 
year, that it is rapidly progressing; the only question be¬ 
ing, how long has the death of the trees been delayed by 
a process at once so tedious and expensive? So then, at 
all events, the disease is neither prevented or eradicated 
by any means now in use—will they, therefore, permit 
one who is deeply interested in the result, to suggest a 
mod© of treatment, by which it is believed the evil is 
to be met and overcome. 
In late visits to several of the nurseries of peach trees, 
both in Delaware and New Jersey, I have observed with 
wonder and astonishment, the gigantic size to which the 
trees are forced by every means of human ingenuity, ma¬ 
ny acquiring the height of 8 feet and 3 inches in cir¬ 
cumference, from the bud of last autumn. And if to this 
be added the first year’s shoot from the seed—say 6 feet, 
which is amputated in the spring, we have the enormous 
growth of 14 feet from the seed, in a year and a half! 
Now I would ask, does not this extravagant drainage 
from the root, or whence so ever it may be supposed to 
proceed, produce a laxity, and a disorganization of the 
sap-vessels, sufficient to engender disease in the plant, 
which might then be compared to an overgrown youth? 
If so, putricity must follow, and then blight, in the shape 
of life —the worm; and the yellows, of necessity and ac¬ 
cording to the law of nature. And is it not a fact, that 
the trees now raised by our nurserymen, are twice as 
large in their growth as formerly; and do not these men 
pride themselves in the art of producing them of enor¬ 
mous size, purchasers also, generally preferring those 
that are so? I lately saw trees from the nursery of a per¬ 
son at Moorestown, N. J., measuring more than 8 feet in 
height, an inch and a half in diameter, with roots suffi¬ 
cient in growth for trees of ten years old, one year only 
from the bud! Now, of what advantage is all this? None 
whatever, but a decided injury; productive, it is believ¬ 
ed, of the very evil so much complained of. I know 
that some persons do not covet these large trees, prefer- 
ing those of a smaller size; but if these are taken from 
the same nursery, they are, then, those that have sprung 
from small and weak seed, or been overgrown by larger 
plants, and are to be rejected, for the same reason that 
small apples, from among those of larger growth on the 
same tree, are always inferior, being generally diseased, 
or immature; so the evil is by no means avoided, or ra¬ 
ther it is augmented. 
At Manyunk, on the Schuylkill, I saw, some time since, 
a small nursery of peach trees, situated on an eminence; 
the soil thin, and resting on a bed of disintegrated rock, 
but dry and healthy. Here I found the trees about four 
feet in height from the bud, close and vigorous in their 
form, with no rampant leader; the wood, hard, well ri¬ 
pened, and of a deep red color. The owner observed, 
his trees were sought after at double price, for besides 
being of the best sorts and true to their kind, they were 
sure to grow, when transplanted; their roots being small 
and compactly formed around the body of the tree; be¬ 
sides this, they are free from disease, and would remain 
so, pointing to the well-ripened wood, and the compact 
j growth of the tree, as indicative of health and vigor of 
'constitution. The following course of treatment is, 
therefore, with much confidence, recommended for adop¬ 
tion. 
First, raise the trees on a healthy and elevated spot, 
without the aid of manure or extra culture with the view 
of forcing their growth; shortening all large and vigor¬ 
ous shoots that may be thrown out, even during their first 
and second season. The operation of budding is too well 
understood, to require either note or comment. At the 
time of planting out, let the branches, leaders as well as 
side shoots, be headed down to within three inches of 
the body of the three, removing the tap root, and others 
of overgrown size; taking care that the southerly as¬ 
pect, which it bore in the nursery, is given *to it in its 
new location. And from this period, let a rigid system 
of pruning be adopted, without fear of evil consequen¬ 
ces. No tree bears the knife so well as the peach; and 
to its regular and systematic use, is a cure of its diseases 
to be looked for. Let, therefore, every overgrowing 
branch be shortened, keeping the head of the tree of 
regular dimensions. It is seldom, indeed, that we 
see a peach tree that is not top-heavy; yet the order 
of pruning must be the reverse of that practiced on 
the apple tree, where it is customary to thin out the 
middle branches, for in the peach, the bearing wood 
should be there retained, as also on the sides of the lar¬ 
ger branches; by these means, much breakage would be 
prevented, and thousands of the finest trees be saved 
from destruction—it is the healthiest trees which fall, 
crushed by the weight of fruit hanging at the ends of 
long branches; not those affected by the yellows. 
The perpetual cultivation of the peach-orchard was 
resorted to, for the purpose of preventing the evils com¬ 
plained of, but would those who have practiced it the 
most vigorously say, if in any instance it has been found 
effectual? To those who still advocate such a course, as 
necessary to the well-being of the trees, the production 
of fine fruit, the eradication of the weeds, the destruc¬ 
tion of the worm, and the prevention of the yellows, th© 
following facts, fully to be relied upon, speax volumes. 
Major Reybold, of Delaware, has an old peach orchard 
of about three acres, that has not been cultivated for five 
