THE PEAR-BLIGHT. 85 



[Reply of H. G. Herrick of Lawrence.] 



I exhibited the following varieties of pears ; viz., Swan's 

 Orange or Onondaga, Louise Bonne de Jersey, and Beurre 

 Bosc, all grown on standard trees in garden loam, with 

 clayey gravel subsoil, enriched every j^ear with old manure, 

 with some mulching of coal-ashes dug in. 



I prune only enough to keep the trees in symmetrical 

 shape in spring. I keep the branches open enough for the 

 sun to shine through them. 



My trees have been troubled with blight heretofore, — not 

 much this year. For a remedy I have tried knife and saw, 



— heroic treatment. If done early enough, the tree has been 

 saved; if not, then not. I have had no experience with 

 dwarf trees. I pick my early fall pears when they have 

 attained full growth, and before they change color. They 

 ripen in from one to three weeks, keeping longest and best 

 in a dark, dry, cool place, with plenty of air. I have had no 

 experience in marketing pears. In enriching the soil for 

 my trees I dig in the manure around the trees every year, — 

 usually in the fall, — ' and put a pile of coal-ashes about the 

 tree, say ten inches to a foot high at the trunk, running 

 back two or three feet. It seems to be a protection to 

 the roots, like mulching, giving the trees a better start in 

 the spring. 



[Reply of E. "W. Greene of North Andover.] 



I exhibited two kinds of pears, viz., Bartlett and Beurre 

 Bosc, both varieties raised on standard trees grown in a 

 heavy loam, with a hard-pan subsoil enriched yearly with 

 light dressing of stable-manure. I prune very little in 

 spring. I have been troubled with both blight and insects, 

 to some extent ; have tried no remedy. I pick my pears, 



— Rostiezers when ripe, most of the others when the stem 

 separates from the wood by lifting. They ripen in from one 

 to four weeks, the earlier varieties quickest. I keep and 

 ripen them best in a cool place, free from air. 



