igi4 



BETTER FRUIT 



Pope i^ 



Coast that the orcliards Irct-st IVoni 

 blight infection were tliosc where in- 

 sects were kept well under control. 



The Use of So-Called Remedies. — 

 Tree medication has always been a 

 favorite hobby with those who are ia- 

 norant in matters of plant physiology 

 and pathology. Theoretically, there 

 may be some basis for this kind of 

 work, but the practice of controlling 

 blight by the use of the hypodermic 

 needle or any other method for the in- 

 troduction of "dope" into the tree has 

 proven unsatisfactory. Occasionally we 

 find a man who is absolutely sure that 

 he has prevented bli.^ht infection b\ 

 boring a hole to the heart of a tree and 

 filling it with such insolubles as sul- 

 phur, charcoal and calomel. However, 

 had he looked about for another ex- 

 planation as to wh\ his experimental 

 tree did not blight he w<iuld have easily 

 found it. In my investigation work 

 covering a long jjeriod of years, I have 

 used all sorts of chemicals and chem- 

 ical combinations in various ways, but 

 up to the present time no promising re- 

 sults have been forthcoming. A drown- 

 ing man will grasp at a straw; we have 

 grasped at everything, whether it 

 showed promise or not. We are able, 

 by the use of chemicals applied to the 

 soil, to inhibit the growth of the tree 

 by reason of the fact that the root sys- 

 tem of the tree will take up from the 

 soil anv water soluble substances, tint, 

 inhibiting the tree's i^rowlh is not, after 

 all controlling blight. Lack of a rea- 

 sonable amount of vegetative viaor will 

 result in the production of fruit of in- 

 ferioi- (|uality. The woik of pear-bliglil 

 control nuist depend, at least for the 

 present, upon the methods which have 

 been w^orked out, nanielv, careful eradi- 

 cation of hold-over l)light, through dis- 

 infection of instruments and wouiuls. 

 and last, but not least, the control of all 

 insect agencies which aid in s|)rcadiiig 

 infection. Duiing the growing season, 

 blight should be removed whenevei- it 

 appears; and living infection should al- 

 ways be considered a center for further 

 spread of infection. 



Breeding and Selection. — Breeding 

 and selection, we hope, will in time 

 solve the (juestion of blight control, but 

 for the present we nuist adopt the best 

 practice known to save the pear and 

 apple orchards now in existence. The 

 promise that in i)eihaps ten, one hun- 

 dred or one thousand years we will 

 have commercial varieties of pome 

 fruits at least as good as the best vari- 

 eties now grown and wholly resistant 

 to blight is small comfort to the man 

 who must depend upon his orchard for 

 his present livelihood. The man iimsl 

 know what to do now to save thai 

 which nieans to him his all. There nia\ 

 be sonic of my readers who would 

 like to tell of the wonderful work now 

 being done along the lines of selection 

 and breeding ol' pome fruits resistant to 

 blight. 1 wish to sax that ever since the 

 life history of the pear-blight germ was 

 first fully understood important work 

 along this line has been in ])rogi-ess. 

 The work now being carried on by cer- 

 tain individuals savors of nothing new, 

 and besides this work is verv limited 



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^if.l'rTOOL works'" F. E. MYERS & BRO. ''l?^yTntoU;o 



;S, 



in its scope as compared with work 

 that began more than a quarter of a 

 century ago, and which as yet has not 

 produced any startling results. Do not 

 get exciteil over the persuasive elo- 

 ([uence of the tyro who has had little 

 or no experience in selection and 

 breeding, and who has not had time to 

 demonstrate whether or not he has 

 ainthing in sight. The development of 

 connnercial varieties of pears ecpial to 

 our well-known varieties and at the 

 same time resistant to blight is an ideal 

 we have been striving toward for man\ 

 years. Many Huroi)ean-()riental hy- 

 brids of considerable resistance have 

 been produced, but their ciuality does 

 not compare with even our mediocre 

 connnercial varieties of European 

 blood. 1 have in mind such varieties 

 as Kiefier, l,e(".onte. Ciarber, Smith and 

 others, .\lthough the above-mentioned 

 varieties are being grown in consider- 

 able i|uantity, nevertheless we do not 

 hear of their (|uality as compai-ed with 

 our well-known Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc, 

 (^)mice and Winter Nelis. 



Cause of I'ear-B-light I'^pidemics. — 

 |{ver\ fruitgiower has noted thai 

 blight is more |)revalent some years 

 than it is others. It has been noted 

 that, although little effort had been 

 made toward eradication during the 

 pi'evious dormant period, meaning thai 

 much hold-over was left, a relativeh 

 ligiit infection occurred the following 

 season. On the other hand, it is has 

 been found that, although consider- 

 able effort had been put forth in eradi- 

 cating hold-over blight, the following 

 season resulted in much iTifection and 

 serious losses. To some, this is an ap- 

 parent |)aradox. The question is often 

 asked as to wh,\ we have epidemics of 

 pear blight. This ipiestion is no more 

 dillicult to answer than the (piestion as 

 to why we have enormous yields of 

 fruit or hai-vests of grain. No farmer 

 expects his crop yields to be the same 

 from year to > ear, at least if he ex- 

 |)ects this he does not often realize if 

 when the harvest is over. The answer 

 to the (|uestion as to why we have 

 more bountiful crops one year than an- 

 other is usually .given by the average 

 man in a single sentence, namely, that 

 llie conditions were more favcuable. 

 ■flu- reason \vh.\ we have occasional 

 phenomenal yields is because the con- 

 ditions foi' plant gi-owlh have been un- 

 usually good. In the case of a heav\ 

 wheat crop the seed was put in at the 

 right time, and in the proper amonnl. 

 the soil had been previously well pre- 



pared, climatic conditions during the 

 growing and ripening season were 

 favorable, and more tlian likely good 

 judgment was used in taking advantage 

 of favorable natural conditions. It 

 nuist be remembered that the pear- 

 blight germ is a plant which depends 

 ui)on favorable conditions for its best 

 develoijment; it must be "planted" on 

 the right soils, and the c(mditions for 

 its maxinuun growth and development 

 nurst be favorable, as in the case of the 

 wheat i)lant. It is true that epidemics 

 of disease, whether in animals or 

 plants, are quite freipiently preceded 

 by periods in which there has been a 

 lack of thoroughness in control work. 

 Very often the absence of serious in- 

 fection and the consecjuent absence of 

 disease results in inducing a spirit of 

 cai'elessness in the mailer of careful 

 inspection and eradicalicm. The pres- 

 ent outbreak of the foot-and-mouth 

 disease in the I'nited States amonii 

 stock is a L'ood case in point. The last 

 serious outbreak occurred a good man\ 

 >ears ago, and as time went on watch- 

 fulness gave way to carelessness and 

 lo lax methods of inspection and 

 (piaiantine. 



While it is known that disease-pro- 

 ducing bacteria may be more virulent 

 at one time than another, just as seeds 

 ma,\' be more or less viable, neverthe- 

 less the conditions for a disease-pro- 

 ducing organism's (levelo])ment nuist be 

 favorable or it will not develop so as 

 to cause an epidemic. However, it is 

 for the epidemic which is liable to 

 occur that we must be prepared. It 

 must be remembered that the peai- 

 blight germ is a plant, and that, as a 

 plant, it will not make its best growth 

 whei'e <(indilions are below normal. 

 Change these conditions for the better 

 and maximum growth (U' development 

 will result. If the fruitgrower will re- 

 member that the iiear-blight germ is a 

 plant, he will understand that the same 

 conditions of environment which influ- 

 ence the growth and development of his 

 cultivated plants will also influence the 

 growth and (leveloi)nieiit of the pear- 

 blight germs. Hence, there will be epi- 

 demics of pear blight as there will be 

 "epidemics" of good fiuit crops. 



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