CONTROL OF FlRE OR POME BLICHT. 109 



In attempting to eradicate fire blight in any section orie of the 

 important considerations is the extent of the spread throughout the 

 territory as well as the severity of the disease on the numerous varieties 

 of apples and other fruit trees that may have become infected. The age 

 of the trees and the location of cankers vary the time and the cost of 

 doing the work as well as determining the cost. Since the cut and burn 

 method is the one that must be employed, the method is a tedious and 

 costly one. 



The presence or absence of wild plants that are hosts of the blight 

 bacterium is a point that must not be overlooked, as the destruction of 

 these hosts is one of the most important lines of work to be taken up. 

 Wide areas of land growing infested hosts makes the work very dis- 

 couraging while an absence of such plants makes the beginning of the 

 t-isk at least more encouraging. 



Nothing is more discouraging than the lack of moral support in a 

 Community where the control of the disease confronts one. A lack of 

 such support usually means an indifferent physical and financial support. 

 In fighting this disease it is impossible to accomplish results unless the 

 right kind of help can be secured to do the work. It has been the 

 experience in the past that the man who has no interest in the work 

 other than the pay he draws for the time he works is not as effective a 

 worker as one who has a financial interest in getting results. In 

 sections where the orchards are large, it is oftentimes true that the 

 results are not so good as are obtained in smaller orchards. Such 

 results are attributable to the personal element of help, as in the larger 

 orchards less reliable help must necessarily be depended upon, while in 

 the smaller holdings the owner personally lends much assistance that 

 bears good returns. 



The nature and importance of this work requires a director who has 

 the training requisite to do such work. He must be well trained along 

 pathological lines in order that he may appreciate the true nature of the 

 parasite causing the disease and to instruct the field workers so that 

 they have a good working knowledge relative to the control of the 

 disease. Every laborer must be taught to thoroughly understand the 

 life-history of the bacterium, as to its method of passing the winter, how 

 the organisms spread in the spring and how they are placed in the 

 blossoms and other parts of the tree, how these minute organisms grow 

 and multiply in the Juices of the plant, and last and the most important 

 of all, the fact that the wood may be diseased and yet no discoloration 

 visible to the naked.eye is evident, which knowledge has a direct bearing 

 on the effectiveness of the tree surgery to be practiced upon the infested 

 portion of the plant. The use of the disinfectant constantly on all cut 

 surfaces and all pruning instruments must also be enforced, since the 

 minuteness of the organism is not comprehended by the untrained 

 worker who usually lacks faith in the work of using the disinfectant to 

 destroy something invisible — believed by a majority but a matter of con- 

 jecture by others, many of which fail to make known the fact that they 

 are doubting Thomases. 



The effectiveness of the work in Controlling or eradicating fire 

 b'ight largely depends upon how well the work is organized and that the 

 work when once started can be conducted to its completion without delays. 

 The time of starting the work is also a very important consideration. 

 The slow advance made by the disease during the dormant period of 

 the tree makes it advisable to start the work as early during the dormant 

 season as possible, so that the same may be completed if possible before 

 the following spring, at which time the disease may spread over a 

 portion of the ground already covered. The work should be done at any 

 and all times, as the occasion requires. 



