148 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



some varieties and on some soils this stock may not prove all that 

 could be desired. But one thing is certain, that we can not afford to 

 continue to use the French stock. 



In this connection it must be said that we may find other stocks for 

 pears superior to either the French or the Japanese stock. All of the 

 French stocks belong to one species, Pyrus communis, and the Japanese 

 stock belongs to another species, Pyrus sinensis. These two species 

 grow wild in their respective countries and have come into extensive 

 use because they are abundant and conveniently obtained. At least 

 20 other wild species of pears have been found in Europe and Asia. 

 In China one of these (Pyrus hetulcefolia) has been successfully used 

 as a stock for their cultivated varieties for many years. This grows 

 readily from cuttings, is a very vigorous grower, and in China is giv- 

 ing excellent results as a stock. Since pear blight has never become 

 prevalent in Europe or Asia we know little regarding the susceptibility 

 or resistance of these species to blight. The Southern Oregon Experi- 

 ment Station is growing these species to determine their _ behavior 

 toward blight and their value as stocks for our cultivated varieties. It 

 is possible that we may find in this large collection stocks for our pears 

 which are superior to those now used. 



TOP WORKING BLIGHT RESISTANT TREES. 



The speaker has already stated that we now have varieties of pears 

 which are rarely, and some never, attacked by blight. The fruit of most 

 of these has little commercial value, but the trees are of the greatest 

 value. We should plant these blight-resistant varieties (on Japan pear 

 stock) grow them in the orchard for two years, and then top-work 

 them with our commercial varieties. By doing this it will be possible 

 to keep blight out of the root system, trunk and the main body branches, 

 and by this method we can avoid at least 50 per cent of the injury now 

 inflict'ed. This will increase the cost of the tree, but the increase will 

 be slight, and is not worth considering when compared with the present 

 cost of fighting blight in the trunk and root system. 



During the past three or four years the Kieffer has been quite exten- 

 sively used in the West for this "purpose. Up to the present time our 

 eonniiercial varieties have made a satisfactory growth on the Kieffer. 

 In the eastern states this variety has not proved very satisfactory 

 when top-worked with our standard commercial varieties. The scions 

 would usually grow fairly well for a few years, and then most of them 

 would either" die or break off at tlie union. Most of the Kieffers top- 

 worked in the eastern states were trees old enough to bear, and conse- 

 quently the grafts were inserted where large branches had been cut 

 off; and under such conditions the union may be much Aveaker than 

 where the top-working is done by budding into small branches. The 

 speaker has observed here in the West that top-grafted Kieffers, even 

 on small branches, will often form a rough, swollen union, while top- 

 budded trees usually have much smoother unions. It is well known 

 that the Kieffer is a" hybrid l)etweon two very distinct species, and this 

 variety is markedly different from our cultivated European varieties 

 of pears. This is probably responsible for so many weak unions. 



