2sEW York Agricultural Experiment Station. 143 



cases of imperfect fertilization the pit is abnormally small and 

 has no kernel, or at least only a partially developed one. This 

 difference will enable anyone to distinguish readily between the 

 two troubles. 



V. At Milton, N. Y., the tile drain to a vinegar cellar was 

 clogged by a luxuriant growth of the fungus Leptomltws lacteus. 

 The obstruction was easily and effectually removed by placing a 

 small quantity of copper sulphate crystals in the upper end of 

 the drain. 



VI. Drain pipes to refrigerators frequently become clogged 

 with a slimy, gray growth of fungus which has its origin in the 

 ice, but is not an accumulation of matter from the ice. It may 

 be easily controlled by occasionally washing out the drain pipe 

 and ice chamber with boiling water. 



I. TROUBLE WITH PEARS IN A NURSERY' CELLLAR. 



In March of the present year the Station received a letter from 

 a Rochester nurseryman requesting that an expert be sent to his 

 place to inquire into the cause of a serious trouble among the 

 pear trees in his nursery cellar. One of the writers of this arti- 

 cle was sent to investigate. It was found that 2.5,000 three-year 

 old standard pear trees had been tied into bundles of ten to fif- 

 teen trees each and placed in the nursery cellar in an upright 

 position. The bundles of trees were set in rows and the roots 

 covered with sand, after the usual custom in such cases. The 

 bark on the trunks and branches of the trees was of normal color 

 and apparently all right up to a height of about three and one- 

 half feet, but above this point the bark was black, and many of 

 the branches were evidently dead. This condition prevailed 

 throughout the cellar in a strikingly uniform manner. All parts 

 of the trees below three and one-half feet were healthy and all 

 parts above that point blackened. This blackening of the 

 branches was suggestive of the bacterial fire blight and the 

 owner was fearful that it might be an outbreak of that disease. 



Observing that a fire had been built in the cellar, suspicion at 

 once pointed in that direction, and after an inquiry into all the 



