122 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



ing, and although some forty years old has never shown any sign of blight, 

 and, I am told, never failed to yield a crop of fruit. 



No variety of the European type can compare with the LeConte in growth 

 or productiveness. A peculiarity of this pear is, that, like its congener, the . 

 China Sand, it can be grown from cuttings. But while the latter may, dur- 

 ing winter, grow quite readily in Lower Georgia, nearly all attempts of 

 propagating by this method have failed in Middle and Upper Georgia. Where 

 trees can only be propagated with certainty when grafted upon pear stocks, 

 worked upon quince gives bad results; the buds grow rajoidly the first year, 

 but gradually die off afterward. Its apparent resistance against blight is, 

 doubtlesp,attributable to a peculiar thick epidermis which prevents fungii from 

 obtaining a foothold. Admitting that pear blight is caused by the attacks of 

 a fungus, which destroys the tissue of the bark, it becomes evident that so 

 long as a tree is grown from a graft below the surface, its immunity from 

 blight will be equal to that of a tree grown from a cutting, as the stock is not 

 exposed to the atmosphere and thus protected from the fungus. However, 

 when top-grafted the. liability to blight is increased, the graft must suti'er 

 should the body of the tree become affected. The theory of blight being 

 generated from lack of affinity between graft and stock and carried through 

 the circulation receives, in this instance, a practical refutation, as the won- 

 derful vigor infused in i)ear stocks, when grafted with the LeConte, is con- 

 clusive evidence of the affinity, and if effected by blight it is only when top- 

 grafted, because fungus growth makes its appearance only upon that portion of 

 the tissue of the pears of European type, which is exposed to the atmosphere. 



As a market fruit the LeConte has proven valuable. Although without 

 being of superior quality, it is sufliciently good to be desirable. But its good 

 market points consist in its even size and smooth skin, combined with its 

 great fertility. We may, in the near future, obtain better varieties of this 

 type, as several are already quite prominent, such as Keift'er's, Garber's and 

 other, hybrid varieties ; but even should we make no further advance in 

 point of quality, the advent of the Leconte has made pear culture possi- 

 ble and profitable where it was a failure before. 



DISCUSSION ON SOUTHERN FEUITP. 



The President — Several topics suggested in Mr, Berckmaus' ad- 

 mirable paper will certainly elicit valuable discussion, and he will 

 doubtless be willing to answer any questions that you may desire to 

 ask him. 



Mr. Smith, of Wisconsin — Why is it that certain varieties of 

 peaches ripened in certain sections of the country earlier than in 

 regions lower down ? 



3£r. Berckmans, of Georgia — That is one of those climatic freaks 

 that we can not account for. The nearness to the sea is thought to 



