134 Missis'^ijijji Valley Horticultural Society. 



The Lawrence is the most healthy, and it very seldom blights. As 

 a general thing, it grows very perfect. It does not bear as well as 

 we would like. We would like to get hold of a pear that we can 

 raise, but this abominable blight is doing more damage than any 

 thing else. If we could get rid of that, we could raise pears 

 cheaper than any other fruit. 



31r. Hollister, of Illinois — I am glad to know that some of our 

 friends are able to raise pears with little or no blight. I had hoped 

 we should hear something that would help us to get rid of the blight. 

 I had, two years ago, as nice an orchard as one would wish to see. 

 We had a bad blight year, and there w^as not a single LeConte tree 

 left. It was the first to show blight. In proportion, I had more 

 Bartletts left than anything else. The Sheldon is the only one that 

 remained sound. They have stood for fifteen years, and have been 

 cultivated every year, which I did not dare do with my Bartletts 

 and other kinds. They have yielded me some pears almost every 

 year. The Bloodgood is another variety of which less than 25 per 

 cent, survives. 



Dr. Hape, of Georgia — In planting my orchards, I have noticed 

 that those trees which are planted on a northwestern exposure, and 

 are protected against the evening sun, which I have found injuri- 

 ous in almost every instance, are exempt from blight. The ground 

 in my neighborhood is rolling. Other gentlemen have made the 

 same tests. Their experience has corroborated mine. I believe 

 our pear trees, and I am sure our cherry trees, would be benefited 

 by boxes around them, protecting them from the rays of the even- 

 ing sun. The sides of the trees with the southwestern exposure 

 show a blighted surface, indicating a mischievous influence. If I 

 were to plant an orchard of any size I would box every tree. 



Mr. Baldwin, of Michigan — My opinion is that the use of salt 

 about pear trees will prove useful in preventing blight. In our 

 county there is an old tree that bears pears, and has borne them for 

 thirty years. The owner told me, not long ago, that he had for 

 several years strewn salt around his tree, and ever since he had 

 good crops. However, we are not troubled with that so much so 

 far north. 



