Smyrna times., 1889-04-10
Peaoh Yellows and WOO Ashes.

Editor EUery Ereaiag. Prof. e. f.
Smiths special report TO the depart
ment of agriculture is calculated Ia
make an erroneous impression and lead
to false inference in regard to tn,
use of fertilizers or other applications
IN the cultivation Of peach trees. a,
nearly all growers admit that th,
peach yellOws" are incurable and t.
degree at least contagious. If the
reader will draw the distinction be
tween cure, as given in the report. ana
prevent, as understood by the growers.
the erroneous impression referred to
will be readily understood. There are
diseases which doctors pronounce in.
durable, but which may be prevented
and even if contracted, life and use
fulness may be prolonged by iudiciou,
timely treatment. Experience long
ago proved that wood ashes applied t.
peach trees or incorporated in the soil
where grown tended to prolOng life
and prOductiVeness and before the use
Of coal as fuel became general. wood
ashes were extensively used as a fer
ilzer for peach trees. Their scarcity.
however, necessitated the use of othel
applications and various were the ex
periments to find suitable substitute
As an analysis of wood ashes shows
The chemical ingredients to be phos
phoric acid aud potrsh, and as these
are easily obtainable from other source.
fertilizer containing these in the
proportion Of ashes is deemed hv many
growers as the best application foI
trees, not as curative for yellows. but
as an inVigOratOr and, to an extent a.
least as a preventive. Some growers
hOld to the opinion that a composition
containing the chemical constituents Of
wood ashes applied in sufficient ouan
uty would entirely prevent the an
pearance and spread of yellows. Is
anyone prepared to show that it would
not? Several years ago the writer
while visiting in Bethlehem, Pa. was
shown as curiosity three large VIC
orOus old peach trees in a ward on
small lot so ladened with ripenino
fruit that the limbs had to be support
ed to prevent breaking, the other
nine trees originally forming part oi
the orchard having died years previous
presumably of yellOws. Investigation
| developed the fact that the site had
once been occupied as a bakery. the
| ashes from which had been thrown
into this particular locality previous to
neing carted away. The late John
! Perkins OF NorristOwn, related to me
/ having witnessed a similar occurrence
IN Camden, N. J. Hon. n. B. Smith
ers of Dover, told me that in visiting
the lower Virginia counties some wears
ago he saw standing near an old house
a healthy peach tree nearly as large as
an ordinary sized apple tree, near
which was the accommodating ash pile
TO be left to grow until corn aud DO.
tato planting, the companion trees oi
which had long since departed. There
Is evidence then, that the age, strength
vitality and health of a peach tree may
be preserved and prolonged years
after the ordinary period of decay and
/ failure. There are, also, known ingre.
dents the application of which has
| produced these results. If, then, the
age, vitality and prOductiveness oil
trees can be increased by the appica-
ton of necessary stimulant, the com
binatiOn and quantity to be scientit-
ically and experimentally determined,
l submit that science should be in
voked in the aid to preserve the trees
rather than to devise plans for their
determination IL is not, therefore, so
much a question Of cure as of preven-
iion, the practical consideration OF
which is not SO much as to the means
to be used, but whether the ends to be
ACCOMPLISHED would Justify the cost.
| O. r.. a., 49,. oF IfaoranN nnnifoaf3onr
i'm the orchards is in the experimental
stages, and results are so much affect
ed bv seasons, weather, and the vari-
Gus contingencies to which the peach
is subject, that no satisfactory conclu-
sions have been reached, but this much
can be safely assumed-the application
of fertilizers apprOximating the chem
ical constituents of wood ashes tends
to increase the vitality and productive
ness of the trees, the success depend.
ing, other conditions being equal, on
the quality and quantity of the appli-
cation.
In view of the unlavorable criticism
on Professor Smiths report, as to the
use of fertilizers on trees, especially AZ
referring to this vicinity, where the
reader is led to infer that the youn0
orchards have been abandoned to the
ravages of the yellows, il may not he
Inappropriate TO here state that the
reverse is more in accordance with tbe
views of the interested growers ~
proof Of which there are some 40 ooo -
$4,000 young trees in this neighbor-
hood, and others being planted tba
hope and expectations from which ara
| based on the eXDected hanaGt,
obtained by the use Of fertilizers.
II. H. APPLETON.
Odessa, March 30ih, 1889. 0"'
Corn IL en,. Il.