Report of A. H. Carson. 35 



it with the germs. At the blooming period the sap is very 

 active, and where many hold-over cases have been permitted 

 to develop the source of annual spring infection to the bloom 

 is great. In a short time after infection of the bloom 

 it will be noted that the infected bloom begins dying, and in 

 a few days the terminal limbs begin dying back very rapidly. 

 Every grower, immediately on noticing the terminal gröwth 

 dying back, should not neglect for a moment to cut out the 

 limbs that show infection, and burn the same. In cutting 

 out diseased twigs, cut well below the part that shows dis- 

 ease, and always sterilize the shears, or knife with corrosive 

 Sublimate. For sterilizing the knife buy a 25-cent bottle of 

 antiseptic tablets that are soluble, Dissolve two of these tab- 

 lets in eight ounces of water, dampen a sponge with the Solu- 

 tion, and as every limb is cut off wipe the knife across the 

 sponge to prevent infection when cutting off a new limb. 

 Sterilizing the knife after cutting off a diseased limb is very 

 necessary, as it is possible you might not get below the 

 infected part on the limb, and in cutting off the next 

 limb in healthy tissue you are liable to cause infection from 

 the knife, Professor O'Gara says that the germs of the pear- 

 blight are so small that the pricking of a needle into a case 

 of hold-over, and then pricking the same into healthy tissue 

 would infect it. 



Were the dangerous character of the pear-blight fully 

 understood by the fruit-men of Oregon, they would not delay 

 a moment from discovery of the disease in their orchards 

 until they would be cutting it out, and burning the diseased 

 wood. It is an easy disease to treat and destroy, if taken at 

 the beginning, but if permitted to spread and become well 

 established in an orchard or fruit district, it becomes a serious 

 Problem and means expense and worry, as well as loss. It is 

 an easy problem, if one discovers a fire in a dwelling, at the 

 beginning to put it out with but a little loss of time and 

 injury to the building, but neglect it, and the building is lost. 

 So, too, with the pear-blight, it is as necessary to begin active 

 work at the moment it is discovered to save the orchard as 

 it would be to put out the fire in a dwelling when first dis- 

 covered. To illustrate: In July, 1908, I was in Douglas 

 County looking over the orchards. I föund no pear-blight for 

 nearly a week and believed it had not got established in that 

 county. While in Edenbower in Mr. Hays' orchard of thirty- 

 five acres, I found two pear trees that were diseased with 

 the blight. Mr. Hays and myself cut out all diseased twigs, 

 and destroyed them. Mr. Hays then called my attention to a 

 few pear trees in an orchard adjoining, owned by Mr. Lyons. 



