AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
55 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
Pear— continued. 
pushed inwards also. The spots are apt to run together; 
and, in bad cases, they may cover a large part of the 
surface of the fruit. Sometimes they do not develop 
conidia, but the short cells of the stroma may break 
off, and may act as conidia, since they push out mycelium 
threads, and reproduce the Fungus. This condition is 
Spilocea pomi, of Fries. The Fungus continues to grow 
on the fruit after it is gathered and stored, and greatly 
diminishes its marketable value, both by rendering it 
unsightly, and by causing decay. The variety pyrinum 
differs from the form on Apples chiefly in the rather less 
regular form of the conidiophores or stalks. Remedies 
must be directed to prevention, since no means are 
known to effect a cure. Diseased trees, and also 
those fruits that assume the diseased condition in the 
storehouse, should be destroyed. Certain varieties are 
peculiarly liable to injury from this Fungus, e.g., the 
Louise Bonne, and should not be planted where liable to 
infection from it. Mr. Smee has recommended as a 
remedy to lift the trees, and give them some good top- 
spit loam. 
Still another Fungus, destructive to the fruits of Pears, 
and also hurtful to Apples, Plums, Cherries, and Apricots, 
is that now frequently called Oidium fructigenum, Lk. 
It has also received the names of Torula fructigena, 
Monilia fructigena, Oospora fructigena, and Acrosporium 
fructigenum ; and, under one or other of these names, 
it has been often noticed as injuring the fruits of 
Rosaceous trees. It breaks through the epidermis of the 
fruits in the form of small, yellowish-white, convex 
masses or tufts of closely-packed, erect filaments. These 
tufts are often grouped in concentric fashion. The fila- 
ments, under the microscope, prove to be made up of 
rows of bead-like cells, which tend to separate from one 
another, and become elliptical or ovate, and act as 
conidia, germinating on any suitable food. The filaments 
branch freely, both near the tips and along the sides. 
Pears and Apples usually show only diseased patches; 
but Plums, at times, are so diseased that they become 
entirely white, or yellowish-white. The mycelium has been 
noticed on half-grown fruit on the trees, but the tufts in 
general appear abundantly only on the ripe fruits, espe- 
cially on such as fall, and lie for some time on the 
ground. It has been observed that the presence of this 
Fungus on the fruits renders the latter less liable to rot; 
and this has been explained by the fact that the Fungi 
that cause rottenness find the fruits less favourable for 
their nourishment after the growth of the Oidium. That 
it injures the fruits, however, cannot be doubted, and 
they are rendered less suitable for man’s use; yet this 
Fungus can scarcely be classed among the very injurious 
species. Remedies against it must be very much the 
same as against Cladosporium dendriticum; no cure 1s 
yet known. 
Inszots. The Pear-tree is the food-plant of nume- 
rous insects, but only a comparatively small number of 
species ever do serious damage. All parts of the tree 
are liable to be attacked. The roots, as in most trees, 
are at times cut through by Mole Crickets, grubs of 
Cockchafers, and other subterranean foes. For remedies, 
see Mole Cricket and Cockchafer. 
The trunk is bored into, especially in trees that have 
become sickly from any cause, by beetles (see Scoly- 
tidz), and by the larve of certain moths, of which the 
most hurtful are the Leopard Moth, the Goat Moth, 
and the Red-belted Clearwing (see Sesia). The last 
species (Sesia myopœformis) hardly resembles a moth, as 
the wings are narrow, and not scaly over most of their 
surface, while the body is rather slender, and black, 
with a bright red belt round the middle of the abdo- 
men. The spread of wings is about zin. The larve 
are sometimes very numerous. There is no satisfactory 
method of curing trees severely attacked by beetles, or 
Pear—continued. 
by other insects, where the larvæ live between the bark 
and the wood, or in the wood. ‘The mature insects 
should be caught and destroyed, so far as practicable ; 
and, if there are signs that the insect-tenanted part is 
of small extent, it may be advantageous to cut out the 
bark, or the wood, in which the insects live; but this 
can seldom be done. In the case of the Goat Moth 
and the Leopard Moth, the suitable treatment is 
given under their respective headings. It is some- 
times well to uproot and destroy the tree while the 
larve are in it, in order thereby to prevent them from 
spreading to adjoining trees. The loss is diminished by 
the fact that trees inhabited by insects in bark or wood 
are, as mentioned above, usually in a sickly state. If it 
is desired to preserve the tree, it ought to be stimu- 
lated in every practicable way to active growth; as it 
may thus be enabled to resist its parasites, and to 
repair the injuries it has suffered. Perhaps washes of 
soft soap, or of lime, or of other substances disagreeable 
to insects, might protect the parts subject to attack at 
the time when the insects are laying their eggs. 
The younger branches are frequently attacked by the 
Pear Oyster Scale (Aspidiotus ostreeformis). For an 
account of the treatment suited for the removal of this 
pest, which frequently proves very hurtful, see Scale 
Insects. It is the female that is present on the 
branches, like a minute oyster-shell, about in. across, 
slightly convex, wrinkled, and grey or reddish. When 
this scale is removed, the female is seen, rounded. or 
heart-shaped, pale yellowish, and unprovided with limbs. 
The male is smaller, is ochreous in colour, and has two 
wings, long antenne, and six legs. Washing the 
branches with soft soap and hot water, in winter, will 
usually remove these Scale insects. Painting the branches 
with linseed oil, or with paraffin, has also proved suc- 
cessful. 
The leaves are preyed upon by numerous insects, 
While young, they are gnawed by Otiorhynchus raucus, 
and by other Weevils (see Rhynchites). For remedies 
against these insects, see Otiorhynchus. 
The greater part of the insect foes of the Pear-tree 
belong, however, to the Lepidoptera. The larve of not 
a few species feed on its leaves. Occasionally, those of 
the large Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa polychloros), 
and of the Black-veined White Butterfly (Aporia Crategi) 
(see Hawthorn Caterpillars), eat the leaves; but far 
more hurtful are those of the Lackey Moth (Bomba 
neustria), and of the species of Liparis. A few species 
of the Noctuæ are injurious to the Pear-tree, one of the 
more striking in appearance being the larva of the 
Dagger Moth (Acronycta psi), which bears a black- 
pointed, fleshy hump on the back of the fifth ring of 
the body, breaking a broad, yellow, black - bordered, 
median, dorsal band. The other Noctue, the larve of 
which are likely to be found on the tree, are less 
noticeable. Those of several Geometer Moths feed on 
Pear-leaves, as well as on other trees. Among the 
more destructive are the species of Hybernia, and the 
Winter Moth (Cheimatobia brumata). A good many of 
the Tortricina (see Moths) also live on the Pear-tree, 
and, like the Geometers, they almost all live between 
leaves spun together, or rolled into a tube: hence, they 
are protected from birds and other foes. Mention is 
here made of the scientific names of only a few of those 
known to live on this tree, viz., Tortriz ribeana, Lozo- 
tenia rosana, Hedya ocellana, Dictyopteryx contami- 
nana, and Cresia holmiana. Of the Tineina (see 
Moths), a few live in the leaves, burrowing in their 
substance, e.g., Coleophora hemerobiella. 
Beyond capturing the mature insects when possible, 
little can be done for prevention of ravages by larvae on 
Pear-trees, except as regards the Winter Moths, the 
wingless females of which may be checked on their way 
