A WORD OF WARNING TO PEACH GROWERS OF ONTARIO.
BY A. M. SMITH, DRUMMONDVILLE, ONTARIO.
Perhaps it is not generally known, but it is nevertheless a fact, that the disease so destructive to peach orchards called the yellows, has made its appearance in our midst. Quite a number of orchards along the frontier, particularly in the vicinity of Drummondville and Stamford, have had affected trees in them the last season, and some in the great peach growing section of Grimsby. The symptoms of this disease are, 1st, an enfeebled vitality, the foliage looks sickly; and, 2nd, the fruit ripens prematurely, sometimes two or three weeks before its usual season for maturing, it is usually high coloured, red and flecked or spotted, and is red around the stone. This occurring in young trees newly planted, has led many to think they had some new variety which was very early; but the flavor is universally insipid and watery, and the fruit nearly worthless. Hundreds of bushels of them were sold in Western New York last season, their color recommended them, but no one would care to buy them a second time. This disease, according to Downing, showed itself about the year 1800, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where many orchards showed decay and death without any apparent cause, and it has since spread into nearly all the peach growing sections of America. That the disease is contagious there is no doubt, and it is also hereditary. Seeds from diseased trees will produce diseased nursery stock, and buds taken from them will produce disease where inserted, and the pollen from the flowers of diseased trees is also believed to carry the disease to trees that are contiguous. In these ways the disease has been spread over the country. It is therefore of great importance to those planting trees to procure them from localities that are free from this disease, and from parties who would use the utmost care in getting seeds and buds not affected with it.
Is there a remedy for the disease? It is said that when the disease shows itself in an orchard it is difficult to eradicate it, unless the trees showing the first symptoms are taken out, root and branch. In Michigan they have a law compelling people to dig them out; and I understand that there is such importance attached to this matter that vigilance committees are appointed in some localities, who visit orchards, ordering out every tree that shows any symptoms of this disease. But notwithstanding all their vigilance many of their orchards have been destroyed by it. If such extreme measures are necessary there, I should think that self-interest at least would dictate to every peach grower of Ontario to be on the alert, and remove all symptoms of it as soon as it appears. I know there are some people who laugh at the idea of the yellows being here, and attribute the sickly condition of their trees to the cold Winter of three or four years ago, and I do not doubt that the Winter referred to injured the trees in some sections, and by enfeebling them, made them much more susceptible to disease. But I saw this same disease on several trees in an orchard in Niagara Co., N. Y. the Fall before the severe Winter spoken of, (and I think some of it in Canada,) and now that orchard is totally destroyed, and several others in its immediate vicinity are badly affected with it.
Professor Beal, microscopist of the Michigan Agricultural College, has been making observations to learn if possible the cause of the disease. He has detected several forms of fungoid growth attached to the roots of the trees, and this matter has so adapted itself as to enter into the circulation of the sap of the tree. Professor Redgie, of the same college, thinks the disease may be traced to this cause, and that an enfeebled condition of the tree caused by excessive bearing while young, or other enfeebling causes, may greatly increase the liability of the attack. In the analysis of the ashes of healthy, and diseased peach trees, it has been found that diseased trees lack two important elements, potash and phosphoric acid. Now it is an established fact that these are of the first importance among inorganic elements of tree growth, and this deficiency suggests a remedy. (“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”) Keep your trees supplied with plenty of potash in the soil, give them good cultivation, thin out the fruit and not let them exhaust themselves by over-bearing, particularly when young, and they will be less liable to an attack of this disease; and be vigilant in taking out all diseased trees when first attacked, and you may save your peach orchards.
| VOL. I.] | FEBRUARY | [NO. 2. |