350 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



Mr. Piper — I grew the Bartlett for three years with good suc- 

 cess some years ago, since which I have failed entirely. 



Mr. Minkler asked what the climatic influence was on the pear 

 in different soil. 



Dr. Ballou did not think it made much difference. Said he 

 would avoid planting on stiff clay and that he always gave special 

 attention to pruning off the dry limbs in the spring. 



Mr. Minkler — I think one great trouble with our pears is the 

 extreme sudden changes from mild weather in the winter to ex- 

 treme cold. The cold weather would not hurt the trees if it did 

 not come on so suddenly. 



Dr. Ballou — I always regret to see warm weather in the winter 

 and always consider it a bad omen. It starts the sap circulating 

 and it is liable to turn cold suddenly, thus hurting the tree and 

 fruit. I had fifty dwarfs and fifty standards in my orchard 

 to start with and I now only have four dwarfs left while my 

 standards have done nicely. I do not consider the quince stock of 

 any value for a pear root, as it is not hardy or in any way adapted 

 to our soil. The Dearborn Seedling is one of my best varieties. 

 The fruit is delicious and it bears well; though not heavy crops 

 every year, it always bears some. The Madeleine is a very good 

 variety also, the fruit always perfect and the best. The tree is 

 reasonably hardy but was hurt some when the theremometer 

 went thirty-four below zero a few years ago. It has since re- 

 covered and gone on bearing. Remember and feed your pear 

 trees. Put on some muck and well-rotted stable manure and 

 take as good care of them as you would of your horse. The 

 Duchess is a vigorous grower and for that reason kills back 

 easily. Was the first variety to go among my standards. 



Mr. J. V. Cotta — My experience has been that the blight does 

 not kill the pear all at once, but starts in at one place on the 

 tree, and as the poisonous sap from the diseased part circulates 

 through the other portions of the tree, the whole thing becomes 

 diseased and dies. The pear root should not be drowned out. 

 It runs down deep into the ground and should have very deep 

 drainage, much deeper than other trees. 



Dr. Ballou — As soon as the least blight appears, it should be 

 removed by pruning the diseased part from the tree. When I 



