Addresses — Blight. 161 



thousand pear trees, 975 of which now look like the abomination 

 of desolation; cause, blight. Twenty-five have fully met my 

 expectations, and these were planted not far away from the others, 

 but in a peach orchard, and are all healthy, save one Flemish Beauty 

 slightly blighted two years ago," What influence these peach 

 trees have had in preventing blight, is a greater mystery to me 

 than blight itself. Mr. Engle has no theory, but thinks perhaps 

 they absorb some element from the soil hurtful to pear trees. He 

 has faith enough to plant one hundred and fifty more in his 

 peach orchard. The peach tree remedy will not be tried exten- 

 sively in Wisconsin, as it would certainly bring up the cost of rais- 

 ing pears to the Kellogg standard. Believing that pears can be 

 grown in this state, if we can protect the trees from this great 

 scourge, or arrest its progress when it appears, I hope that this 

 society will work with others in investigating the cause or causes, 

 that produce it, and also in testing such remedies as seem adapted 

 to cure the disease. It is not more common nor destructive now at 

 the west, than in other parts of the country celebrated for fruit 

 growing. The localities I visited two years ago had been exempt, 

 from blight. How long pear trees have been grown there, I c J&1> . 

 not state, as the general settlement of the region dates back gey— 

 enty years or more. Nearly twenty years ago I planted a £ ew 

 dwarf trees, Flemish Beauty and Bartlett, on high pr ^ r j e ]; an( j. 

 they grew and flourished for a while, bore fruit three ^j mes . after 

 having passed the winter of 1864; but the blight < jatne an( j they 

 perished. I tried to doctor them by cutting off_ ^ ead limits and 

 burning them, applied salt and ashes to the ^ anh oVer the rootg) 

 but only one appeared to make spasmodic e' /<Jrts tQ Hye for ft JQM , 

 or two longer, then died. These trees we ^ m sod grouridj which 

 some claim is the proper condition to ex dWJpt pear treeg frQm h] - gbu 

 This theory has been disproved by t\ lQ testimony of many others 

 who have tried it. I bought some / res}i stock of standardSy after 

 my first setting had all perished, and p i anted tbem . hut fajfflafrii 

 killed these the same season t! aey were pl ante d. Some very unbe- 

 lieving and uncharitable peo. p l e say that those who write and talk 

 about raising fruit, seldom grow but little themselves. Unwillin 

 to admit that this statement is generally true, I nevertheless con- 

 fess that it hits my case in raisino- pears. 



It is noticeable that the remedies prescribed for blighted trees 



S 



