Pears and their Culture in the South. 127 



cessive growth of unripe' wood may follow, predisposing to blight. Again, 

 a dry season may occur, retarding the growth of the fruit and hindering its. 

 perfect development. As he can not control the seasons, however, the judi- 

 cious cultivator will adapt himself to the average, as nearly as possible, and 

 then cultivate or not, according to variety and strength of soil. 



4 



DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



The one great disease (if I may so call it) of the pear in the South, as in 

 some other places, is the blight. It is a terror to cultivators, whether 

 as amateurs or market growers, discouraging success, and hindering or pre- 

 venting the planting of thousands of trees annually in the South, that but 

 for this would be grown. I will not attempt to discuss its nature, whether 

 it be the effect of frozen and vitiated sap, of fungoid growth, or insect ene- 

 mies. That will i>i'obahly be done in other papers during this meeting. Nor 

 can I announce a specific against its ravages. I have tried the application of 

 linseed oil to the trunks and larger limbs, as high up as it covdd be conve- 

 niently applied, with encouraging success; others have used carbolic acid in 

 various forms with some degree of success, but a specific that shall be prac- 

 ticable in its application has not, in my knowledge, been reported. Such a 

 discovery would be an inestimable boon to the South. Give us immunity 

 from blight and an impetus would be given to pear culture, measured for 

 years to come only by the ability of nurserymen to supply the trees. Give 

 us immunity from blight, and in their difterent forms we can supply the 

 world with choice pears. All other diseases and hinderances sink into insig- 

 nificance compared with the blight. 



An insect that sometimes affects the dwarf tree is the borer, especially in 

 old orchards and where the quince stock is exposed. Deep planting, placing 

 the entire quince stock some two or three inches below the surface, will pre- 

 vent the attacks of this insect. Another still is the curculio, which stings 

 some kinds of pears considerably in some seasons. The Duchesse is especi- 

 ally liable to its attacks. The larvte bore out generally before the fruit falls 

 or ripens, causing it to rot prematurely. While I do not certainly know how 

 to prevent injury by this insect, I wish to offer a suggestion for experiment. 

 Salt is, I believe, generally destructive of insect life. Some years since I no- 

 ticed a statement in White's Gardening for the South, concerning the 

 cutworm, that when salt had been applied in the fall, at the rate of eight 

 bushels to the acre, no cutworms made their appearance the following 

 spring. May not the same application destroy this pest of the orchard, sav- 

 ing not only pears, but peaches and apples as well ? Has it been tried ? or, if 

 not, who will try it and report? 



Another insect infesting the pear sometimes is the girdler, that cuts off the 

 hickory limbs in the fall. I've known them occasionally to cut off the lead- 

 ing shoot of half an inch or more in diameter. Such injuries, however, are 

 not very frequent, as far as my information extends. Some of our entomo- 

 logical friends can probably suggest a remedy for this. 



