Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-03-04

BOOK NOTICES.
| THE CULTIVATION OF THE PEACH AND
TaE PEAR ON THE delaware AND
| CdEsAPRAKE PENINSULA. : With
chapter on ounce culture aud the culture Of
some of thenut-bearing trees. By DR.. john J.
Black, Of New Castle. $50 pag 80 octave, with
Company, Wilmington. Price, s.
From 1852 to 1856, I'm the public school at
| New Castle an excellent institution OF
learning then presided over by Alexander
| N. Virgins, who shortly thereafter entered
the Methodist ministry, there were two
boys who as regularly as the months rolled
/ around carried of the leading honors rank
ing respectively Nos. 1 and in class A.
| Not infrequently the monthly averages Of
these boys reached 100, the highest attain
able, showing absolute perfection In every
| recitation. No. / was John j. Black, the
author of this book; No. was George, now
i Senator Gray.
| DR.. Black has carried into the eompila-
tion of his book the same principle of thor
| oughness that kept him nc the head of the
| first class In the school of his boyhood He
has aimed to make 1t a wade mecum to the
| Peninsular pomologist. In his preface he
offers to the veteran fruit-growers. ga work
that will cause discussion, and tend to bring
| uppermost in their thoughts, matters which
need constant agitation, in order TO sift the
chaff from the grain, and to check the in
| roads of Ignorance and prejudice which
often creep over minds at rest" To the
novice he says: 81 have written just such
book as feel and know would have been
of very great help and value to me when
first engaged In fruit culture, and the want
of just such guide, In my early struggles,
has cost me much pecuniary loss and many
bitter disappointments." The result Of
keeping these ends in view has been the
production of a manual of Peninsular fruit
culture In which the harvest of extended
experience, observation and correspond
ence has been gathered and wnnowed, and
the tested and the promising yield thereof
| noted down in the good and terse English
which the writer would naturally use in
conveying the same information to a neigh
Dor by word of mouth. He has written n
practical book for practical people.
The first half Of the work IL devoted to
the cultivation of the peach. After brief
history of peach culture on this Peninsula,
the writer enters upon the practical part of
his theme with the emphatic declaration
that peaches should be grown only from
the seed Of the natural or unbudded fruit,
He shows elsewhere that many of the ills
to which orchards are subject may be
traced to a neglect of this fundamental
principle-to nursery stosk raised from
seeds taken Unfortunately from evap.
orators and coming from the fruit of dis,
eased and premature trees or trees bred In
and in until their offspring arc certain to
suffer from the unvarying natural law of
degeneration which follows in-breeding.
Natural trees are more hardyand less prone
to disease; they are not so apt for example
to be stricken with yellows, and when at
tackled are rarely killed by the disease.
Directions for budding the young trees
follow, the author impressing upon his
| readers the same care in selecting buds
1 pg ia sol ion nf
seed. Then follow directions for locating
the orchard planting the trees, the best
varieties to plant, care OF the young
orchard, pruning, cultivation, fertilizing
character and ingredients of fertilizers, Il
comprehensive account Of the diseases and
, enemies of the peach lists OF varieties OF
trees to plant In different sections Of the
/ Peninsula and for different purposes, the
| times of ripening and the relative value o
different varieties for shipping, canning
s evaporating or home use, directions fo
a gathering and marketing the crop, an nc
count of the Delaware Fruit Exchange, it
d workings and their practical results, hint
n regarding canning, evaporating, drying
preserving, &c. and replies from leading
q growers to questions embracing prett
Q generally the field of successful peach cul
ture.
The subject has so wide range that it
Il difficult to touch upon any details in tn
1
are, however, the condemnation Of the us
II | of green barn-yard manure, and the baC
,r terial theory of yellows. Green manure
regarded as unfit for almost any field Gro
y other than corn. Corn says the docto
% sis a hog" that will eat anything But /
re the orchard he regards barn-yard manu-
II as regular hot-bed seething with IL
lie germs of bacteria. In speaking of yellow
he expresses his conviction that bacteria
limited numbers exist in healthy trees
Or well as in healthy men, but, when the
ar number from any cause becomes great
increased they become disease. Undl
ss such conditions, the nutrition of the tree
3. seriously interfered with, or ceases alt
gether, because the cell action is checke
10 or stopped, and we have chronic or slo
le yellows, causing the tree TO pine away lii
w human victim to consumption; or acu
y yellows, which carries its victim off rapid
lg 1t may not be critically pertinent to I'll
n. subject, but In this era of analytical and he
meneutical agnosticism, it is decidedly r
o. freshing while on the subject of bacteria,
come across such sentences as these: Il a
/, no believer in spontaneous generation.
~ this day OF doubt and trial l say this me-
~ emphatically. see God in nature ever
u where, from the inception of this micr
10 scopic ultimate atom to tho grand create
~ OF man mysterious, wonderful and cor
~ pick in being" The unbelievlng natlIrali
~ must be almost as mad as the undeyo
| astronomer.
" The following extract is one Of the mo
"a interesting in the whole book
an have made some calculation in regard
what might bB the average cost to the grow
OF basket of peaches grown on the Penlnsu
and delivered at the railroad or steambo
er landing. have considered the Interest
Investments In land, the trees, the loss OF tin
ny before bearing, the labor, the packing, and
ne losses by elements, &c, with complete lc
~ Of crop ONE In seven years, and think I
on cost will run from 90 to 80 cents per basket.
.es Following the peach are 145 pages dev
ted to the culture Of the pear, "a topic treat
ID with equal care and attention to deta
N geographically, the book is q credit to t
publishing house which issues it, bel
III, we'll printed on excellent paper, and +
he binding Is neat and substantial. In t
Ia words otone of DR.. Blacks fellow-townsme
~ in letter to tho GAZETTE: 1.-THE maj
in Of the author will be accepted as sutllcie
ma guarantee Of thoroughness, and OF the
liability of the statements made and I
eld advice given throughout the discussion
"a. the subjects under consideration. It "
!. the privilege Of the writer to see gooC
portion of the book while still in mar
the script, and since its publication a me
o, careful examination has only tended
10 strengthen the conviction that the auth
ere has produced a work that must be VI
in. helpful to those engaged In fruit cult
upon the Delaware and Chesapeake Pen
TX sula. May it have generous circulate,
be and be made abundantly successful In
n. direction and for the purpose designed
NY the author"