THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
137 
peach-trees on his place for sale this season. All the infested 
trees were dug out and burned. At another place I found 
about fifty old peach-trees nearly dead with the yellows in the 
vicinity of a block of 30,000 peach seedlings that will be ready 
for market next fall. In this case also the infested trees were 
destroyed. 
“ In several instances I have found blocks -of pear and 
cherry-trees that had been almost completely defoliated by the 
pear-slug (Eriocampa cerasi.) Nurserymen finding this insect 
appearing in their nurseries another season should bear in 
mind that the infested stock could be cleaned in a few hours 
by a thorough drenching with a decoction of white hellebore 
used at the ritio of one ounce in a gallon of water, or the 
plants may be dusted with the powder, undiluted or mixed 
with several times its own bulk of cheap flour. These insects 
are so easily killed it is gross negligence on the part of any 
nurseryman to allow his stock to become stunted and dwarfed 
by them. 
“ The peach-borer (Sannina exitiosa) has also been found 
quite abundant throughout the state. It is not considered a 
dangerous insect in nurseries, but is very annoying and de¬ 
structive in orchards. Whenever it is found in nursery stock 
it should be cut out and destroyed. Its presence can usually 
be detected by the gummy exudation at the base of the tree. 
“ I have found the woolly apple-louse (Schizoneura lanigera), 
common in several nurseries. Wherever this insect occurs 
upon the roots, the trees should be destroyed if badly infested. 
It is not an uncommon thing to find the roots of infested trees 
one mass of knots. Such trees are not marketable and should 
be avoided. As it is not possible for an entomologist to be 
absolutely sure that the peach-borer and the woolly apple-louse 
are not present on nursery stock, unless he could see the entire 
lot of trees uprooted, it will be to the advantage of the buyer 
of peach and apple stock to pay particular attention to the 
borer in the peach and the louse on the apple. 
NEW DISEASE OF THE PEACH. 
During the prosecution of my work inspecting nurseries, I 
have on three occasions come across blocks of peach seed¬ 
lings that were in an unhealthy condition. The condition of 
the stock was not due to what is popularly known as yellows 
or rosette, or to any other disease that has been heretofore 
described so far as I can asceitain. Trees affected with this 
disease have a characteristic reddish tinge, due to the colora¬ 
tion of the underside of the leaves. The leaves have a tend¬ 
ency to roll upwards and inwards, thus exposing the under¬ 
surface. The reddish tinge appears first on the outer edge, 
gradually spreading over the entire under surface on badly 
infested stock, giving the trees a decidedly reddish appearance. 
I have not found it affecting any stock except peach. 
Respecting the nature of this disease, I have been unable to 
associate any fungous or bacterial affection with it that could 
be identified as the cause.' It seems very probable that the 
disease is due to certain soil conditions, and that the stunted 
growth is partly referable to an imperfect assimilation of plant 
food. In two instances the diseased stock is on rather low 
ground somewhat given to frenching, a term familiar to agri¬ 
culturists. In other places stock in the same unhealthy con¬ 
dition is on high ground, appearing here and there in irregular 
patches. It is not an uncommon thing to find a perfectly 
healthy tree growing in the midst of an infested block. In one 
block of trees budded last season fully 2500 were found in 
such feeble condition this fall they have been dug out and 
burned. The buds were from perfectly healthy stock, but 
budded on very unhealthy seedlings ; the budded growth 
showing the same characteristic appearance as the seedlings 
themselves. On the other hand, buds from the same source 
budded on healthy seedlings made a fine, vigorous, untainted 
growth. 
Whether this disease is communicable by budding unhealthy 
buds on healthy seedlings remains td be cleared up by actual 
trial. Experiments are now under way to settle this, and 
several other points regarding budding, vitality, and longevity 
of the diseased trees. Another experiment has been started 
to see whether 01 not seedlings in this diseased condition can¬ 
not be helped by treating the soil with lime to neutralize the 
acid, and stable manure or some commercial fertilizer to supply 
nitrogenous material. 
Nurserymen who are selecting ground for planting peach 
should avoid all soils of an acid or sour nature. These soils 
can be located, usually, with considerable accuracy, if corn is 
planted in the field before it is used for nursery purposes. 
Spots where the corn is dwarfed and yellowish, or given to 
what is commonly called frenching, should be avoided unless 
previously treated with lime, stable manure, or some com¬ 
mercial fertilizer and thoroughly drained. 
POMONA WHOLESALE NURSERIES. 
Among the newer nursery firms rapidly coming to the front 
none is making more rapid strides than the Pomona Nurseries 
of Macclenny, Fla. The Griffing Brothers, the founders and 
proprietors of this nursery, left Norwich, N. Y., in 1 885, and 
went to seek fame and fortune in Florida. They were yet “in 
their teens” and were without means financially, but were 
possessed of an abundance of energy, shrewdness and ambi¬ 
tion. In 1888 with little else but pluck and determination to 
back them they started the Pomona Nurseries on ten acres of 
land. At first they made a specialty of plums and peaches ex¬ 
clusively for the wholesale trade. At this writing they have 
nearly 1,000 acres of land and are growing one of the largest 
stocks of fruit trees in the South, Their business has rapidly 
extended to all parts of the country. 
Last September the Griffing Brothers Co., was incorporated 
with a paid up capital of $25,000. This has been done with¬ 
out one dollar of outside help. The business that at first was 
almost exclusively wholesale has naturally developed into a 
good retail trade as well, and they have now in press a retail 
catalogue illustrated principally with original photographic 
plates. They have every facility for doing a general nursery 
business, both wholesale and retail. This year they grew by 
far the largest stock of fruit trees in the Lower South. Their 
stock of peaches, plums and pears is exceptionally large and 
fine. 
The illustrations presented in the frontispiece of this issue of 
The National Nurseryman are from photographs of mid¬ 
summer cultivation of their peach nursery and a block of their 
plum nursery taken later in the fall. 
Their stock for the southern states is complete, but they 
have not been content to confine themselves to the South 
alone and have extended their business to almost every state 
in the union. 
Some have thought that southern grown trees would not do 
