764 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



susceptible to serious injury from pear blight should infection occur. 

 It will be easy for the pear grower to judge whether or not his trees 

 are making sufficient new wood. It will also be easy for him to note 

 by the appearance of 'the foliage the lack of soil fertility. 



Pear growing in the United States is generally on the decrease, the 

 reason for this being pear blight. Many districts that were once 

 known for their heavy pear shipments are now without a single pear 

 tree. In the East we find that southward from the region of the Great 

 Lakes the growing of the better varieties of European pears has been 

 largely abandoned, and to a certain extent we find growing in their 

 stead the two or three Oriental hybrids, spoken of elsewhere in this 

 paper. Of course, large quantities of pears are produced in the East, 



Fig. 402. — Anjou pear tree in full bloom. Holluwa\- orchard. Medford. Oregon. (Original.) 



but for the most part they do not compare in quality with the standard 

 varieties grown on the Pacific coast. This fact is evident from the 

 great difference in price between the Eastern and Western product. 

 While the East and Middle West have suffered much from the ravages 

 of pear blight, many large districts in the West have also had their share 

 of trouble. In some states entire districts have been wiped out, and it 

 is known that in one state only a single pear orchard of about 500 trees 

 remains. The only district on the Pacific coast which has not only 

 held its own but has actually increased its pear acreage and produc- 

 tion is the Rogue River Valley in southern Oregon. The rate of 

 increase may be shown by the carload shipments made in 1911, 1912 

 and 1913, which were respectively 125, 250 and 500 cars (1913 crop 



