t bark, and these suffer severely
from boring wood-beetles; whilst other varieties are known to resist their
attacks much better.[561] In North America the smoothness, or absence of
down on the fruit, makes a great difference in the attacks of the weevil,
"which is the uncompromising foe of all smooth stone-fruits;" and the
cultivator "has the frequent mortification of seeing nearly all, or indeed
often the whole crop, fall from the trees when half or two-thirds grown."
Hence the nectarine suffers more than the peach. A particular variety of
the Morello cherry, raised in North America, is without any assignable
cause more liable to be injured by this same insect than other
cherry-trees.[562] From some unknown cause, the Winter Majetin apple enjoys
the great advantage of not being infested by the coccus. On the other hand,
a particular case has been recorded in which aphides confined themselves to
the Winter Nelis pear, and touched no other kind in an extensive
orchard.[563] The existence of minute glands on the leaves of peaches,
nectarines, and apricots, would not be esteemed by botanists as a character
of the least importance, for they are present or absent in closely related
sub-varieties, descended from the same parent-tree; yet there is good
evidence[564] that the {232} absence of glands leads to mildew, which is
highly injurious to these trees.

A difference either in flavour or in the amount of nutriment in certain
varieties causes them to be more eagerly attacked by various enemies than
other varieties of the same species. Bullfinches (_Pyrrhula vulgaris_)
injure our fruit-trees by devouring the flower-buds, and a pair of these
birds have been seen "to denude a large plum-tree in a couple of days of
almost every bud;" but certain varieties[565] of the apple and thorn
(_Crataegus oxyacantha_) are more especially liable to be attacked. A
striking instance of this was observed in Mr. Rivers's garden, in which two
rows of a particular variety of plum[566] had to be carefully protected, as
they were usually stripped of all their buds during the winter, whilst
other sorts growing near them escaped. The root (or enlarged stem) of
Laing's Swedish turnip is preferred by hares, and therefore suffers more
than other varieties. Hares and rabbits eat down common rye before St.
John's-day-rye, when both grow together.[567] In the South of France, when
an orchard of almond-trees is formed, the nuts of the bitter variety are
sow