AMERICAN BLIGHT.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XX, 16 February 1861, Page 4

AMERICAN BLIGHT.

The following letter on the treatment of apple trees, for American blight, has been published in the Wellington papers, and, from the success which is said to have attended the treatment, we are induced to publish it for the benefit of our readers :—: — Sir — As I believe that I have discovered a plan to destroy the American blight in apple trees, I send you the following remarks, in the hope that my plan may be extensively tried next winter, and with a full persuasion that, if carefully carried out, it will result in success. I observed, on examining the roots of diseased trees, they were invariably covered with blight, and it "appeared to me that if we could succeed in curing the roots, we should not have much trouble with the trunk and branches. I had also read that a medal of honour had been presented to a Scotchman by the Emperor of the French, for his discovery that the application of sulphur would cure the vine disease. I therefore thought it worth a trial, to observe the effect of the application of sulphur to apple trees. If it cured vines, it might also cure apple trees. I have both an enclosed garden and an orchard. Last winter I uncovered the roots of the apple trees as far as possible, covered them with a liberal application of sulphur, and returned the earth over all. The result has been that in the enclosed garden, up to the present moment, there has not been a particle of blight visible on trees which were previously covered with the disease, and in the orchard the blight is of trifling amount, although not yet eradicated. The success in the enclosed garden shows, I think, that sulphur is a specific for the disease, while the partial success in the orchard shows only that the roots were not opened nor dressed with the same care as the others { which was the case), and I trust by a more careful dressing next winter to eradicate the disease there also. It has been suggested to bore a hole in the stems of apple trees, and insert sulphur therein ; this, I conceive, is going on a wrong principle. Plants must take up nourishment through the roots, and if, as I suspect, the blight is a consequence of diseased sap, it is by the roots that the sap must be supplied with a remedy. The economy of my plan is one of its greatest merits. I dressed all my trees, the number beiug considerable, at an outlay of twelve shillings for sulphur. The treatment to be observed is then simply as follows : — Clear off the earth from the roots of the apple trees during wiuter, as far as they can be conveniently followed, cover with a liberal application of sulphur, and replace the earth over all. It is probable that the sulphur performs two functions ; destroys the blight on the bark of the roots, and purifies the ascending sap.

The Duke of Sutherland's Son a Volunteer.— ln a letter from Garibaldi's camp we read :—": — " Ido not know whether you are aware that under the name of Captain Sarsfield is disguised the eldest son of one of the noblest dukes of the English peerage. Lord S , the heir of the illustrious title of the Duke of S ,by his mother's side a descendant of Sheridau, is the very soul of the regiment sent by the people of free England to fight for Italian liberty. Kind to his soldiers, untiring in the performance of his duties, Lord S is the model of an officer, and his courage, activity, and zeal would do honour to the best officer of any army of Europe. Of course his real name is known in the camp, and the Italians are not a little proud that a representative of one of the noblest families of England is in the ranks of the national army. As Lord S always wears a sort of ludian red turban on his head, when he passes through our camp the Garibaldini come forward, exclaiming, • Hear ! hear ! look at the English lord !' and asking whether they can do anything for ' Sua Eccellenza.' " Old Enough to be Free. — A memorandum in the Census returns of Florida is rather peculiar. The Registrar says: '•Among the slave inhabitants enumerated I have found but one in my district whose age exceeds 100 years. This person is a negress named Cornelia Leslie. She informs me that she is 125 years of age. She was born in the State of Georgia, at a place called Silver Bluff, has a distinct recollection of the war of the Revolution, and remembers the siege of Savannah in 1778, when that city was taken by the British. This woman, although so far advanced in years, is remarkably healthy and strong, and walks half a mile regularly every Sunday to attend church. She is the slave of her own son, who is a free negro. — Examiner.

This Prince of Wales's Ball, New York. — The possession of a ticket for the Prince of Wales's ball, at New York, implied not only being a unit in the "Upper Ten TKousaud," but one of tLe tkree thousand above the ten. Some tickets were, uevertheless, parted with by these second-hand recipients for a heavy "consideration ;" but there were only one or two such iustauces, though the prices realized by them must have offered a great inducement to others to forego the ball. As much as £150 was offered for an admission, but all iv vain. — Special correspondent of the Times.