52 TRANSAOTIONS OF TMF, ILLINOIS 



been an\ hliL,-^!!! in tin's orchard for many years: there are some condi- 

 tions in the orchard that lia\e prexented l)li^dit. as it is the onlv pear 

 orchard I know of that has not blighted. 



Mr. McCunk (of Hancock county) — 1 ( anie into possession of this 

 orchard some ten years ago, and it is now about thirt\ years old. The 

 man first owning it .said, when the trees were young, he commenced to 

 ])rune the orchard, and care for it. and it began to blight ; but he stopped 

 caring for the orchard, and said it might go to the dogs for all he 

 cared, and he did nothing for the trees afterward ; but the blight cea.sed, 

 and there has been nothing of it since. There are al)out fiftv trees, and 

 among them about fifteen or twenty varieties. It is prairie soil, moder- 

 ately rich ; I do not think there is any hard-pan underneath, although in 

 wet seasons water stands in the dead-furrows between the rows. 



These trees are jjrotected by an orchard on the north side : they 

 stand in grass not rank in growth. 



Voice — Where is this ? 



Mr. McCune — This is in Hancock county, about four miles south- 

 east of Warsaw. The fruit is not large, and only fair in quality. The 

 trees, many of them, have come up from water-sprouts, or shoots about 

 the base of the dead and blighted trunks. Across the road from this 

 orchard was an orchard of one hundred dwarf pear trees, which have all 

 blighted and died. 



Dr. Humphrey (of Galesburg) — I think a growth of corn planted 

 in the orchard is of great service in preventing injury, as it breaks the 

 sun's rays, which are apt to damage trees. 



Arthur Bryant (of Princeton) — If ray experience is worth any 

 thing, a man can not be sure of freedom from blight by growing trees in 

 grass. I have tried the grass remedy, and failed ; there seems to be no 

 rule established exempting any pear orchard from blight. 



Mr. McWhorter — Have you noticed that where manure is used 

 most freely blight is worse ? Is that your experience ? 



Mr. Bryan'I' — I have never used stable manure on pear trees. 



Mr. McWhorter — I have noticed this in several cases — not that I 

 would state that this is the occasion of the blight, but I have frequently 

 noticed that pear trees blight in such situations. 



Mr. Bryant — Blight, in fact, is a subject that I don't want to talk 

 about at all. 



The President — Discussion on this subject has never given us much 

 light. 



