FIFTY-FIRST ANNTAL REI'OHT. 133 



Cluiiinuui: Wo will refer ihul to the Resolutions (yOinmittee. i will 

 appoint that Committee as soon as we get through here. 



Question: I understand that the farmers can get it from the Farm 

 Bureati at $81 j^er ton. 



Mr. Farrand: The last I heard was $87 from the State Farm Bureau. 

 If it is $81 that has dropped down very much. 



Chairman: Any other questions? 



Question: Wlmt are the principal causes and preventions for pear 

 blight? 



Mr. Marshall: Pear blight is caused by bacteria which may be carried 

 from one tree to another in the spring, usually about the time the trees 

 are in bloom. At such time there may be cankers on the l)lighted trees 

 and usuall}' a sort of a sap exudes from these cankers This sap is 

 sweet and bees like it and they will carry this to the blossoms when the 

 trees are in bloom which results in blossom, spur and possibly twig pear 

 blight. If the conditions are favorable it may grow or spread back inta 

 the branches. 



Concerning the control of pear blight, we can't say any more now 

 than probably 25 years ago. Cut out the blighted twigs below the 

 brown l^ark and burn them. In some sections, practically' in the North- 

 west, they have pear blight cutting campaigns. They go through an 

 orchard and cut out all the blight to be found. That is the way they 

 keep it under control. I do not think pear blight is very serious in this 

 section of the country. I have seen pear blight bad enough to make 

 an orchard appear almost brown in the spring and summer. That cuts 

 down your crop for that year. It would be impractical, and the cost 

 would be too much to attempt to cut out all of this blight. Many times 

 these same orchards will not show any blight at all the following year. 



Question: How do we get the blight when it is found in the body of 

 the trees? 



Mr. Marshall: I .should have said that these bacteria may enter the 

 trees through any wound or break in the })ark. 



Mr. Crane: We are somewhat of the opinion that ants carry pear 

 blight during the summer season. They are very active on trees and 

 we wonder if tangle foot would have any effect of keeping them off of 

 the trees. I have raised pears for .30 to 40 years now and have special- 

 ized in pears considerably. When I was active enough, I did all of 

 my own pruning, when I looked over my own pear trees. I did not 

 allow the Farm ]3ureau to do that or any man for I thought I was a 

 little keener of observation than they were. So always in the month of 

 March I went over my pear trees and I got so that I could discover the 

 limb that was going to have blight the next summer from the discoloring. 

 You can always tell a healthy tree by its color. I used to as a rule cut 

 out every limb that had a discolored appearance. I marked that tree 

 and found that it developed the blight the next year. My son has been 

 going through the pear orchard this winter and cutting out every limb 

 that showed signs of blight. There seems to be no cure only to get 

 ahead of it. If it starts in a limb you have to cut it away below to get 

 ah(^ad of it. If it gets in the bodj' we cannot control it. We can keep 

 it down in this localit}^ as well as anywhere in the United States by ob- 

 servation and great care of our pear trees. I was w^ondering if the tangle- 

 foot would have any effect of keeping the ants off of the trees. In the 



