end, will draw oflF the water, which may be replaced. The bell-j?lass may likewise 

 lie removed, with Ijonofit to the plants, and a sprinkling of water given tliem. 

 llvnrrj Ihiincs, York, Emjland, in Gardener^s Vhronicle. 



THE WHITE DOYENNE PEAR, AND ITS ENEMY. 



BY JOHN B. EATON, BUFFALO, NEW YORK. 



It has been the custom with us, in Western New York, as far back as my re- 

 collection extends, to compare all other pears with the White Doyenne. It has 

 been, by common consent, considered the standard of excellence, and, until very 

 recently, it was by most persons considered as having no equal. Even now, it is 

 with difficulty that any pear is conceded to be its superior. 



Such being its reputation here, and it being well known that, while Eastern 

 poinologists found great difficulty in growing it in perfection, they still retained 

 vivid recollections of its many excellences, numberless cultivators planted trees 

 to a greater or less extent, feeling certain that, if the demand at home should not 

 keep pace with the supply, there was always a good price and a ready sale awaiting 

 them in New York. 



It being the favorite theory with many cultivators, that the cracking of the fruit 

 was owing to a want of some constituent in the soil, which had beeu abstracted 

 by long cultivation, it was supposed by many, and asserted by some, that in the 

 deep and fertile soils of the AVest, it would be many years before the enemy, which 

 had almost driven it from the Eastern orchards, would follow it to the banks of 

 the Genesee and the Niagara, The fact that, in some cases, fair fruit had been 

 produced on trees which had formerly borne only diseased specimens, and which 

 had been subjected to a severe process of pruning, both root and top, and " reno- 

 vation" of the soil, naturally strengthened this supposition, and many pear orchards 

 have been planted within a few years, some with the White Doyenn(5 alone, and 

 some with a large proportion of this variety. 



It is a number of years since the fruit in this vicinity began to give indications 

 of the presence of the disease which had proved so disastrous elsewhere. For 

 some time, it was chiefly confined to individual trees, generally under poor culti- 

 vation, or quite neglected. In some cases, the " renovating" system was tried 

 on such specimens, with different degrees of success, and I have known a few trees 

 which were for some years quite free from the pest, after having been well pruned 

 and cultivated. 



The disease has been, however, continually increasing. It has been for some 

 years a matter of custom with cultivators who possessed many trees to select from 

 their annual crop a large proportion of cracked and spotted fruit, since it was 

 found that, if all were allowed to ripen together, much fruit, which was stored in 

 an apparently perfect state, was sure to become affected from the contact of that 

 which was unsound. 



For two or three years past, I have closely observed the various phases which 

 this malady has assumed, and have made some experiments with trees which were 

 affected, in order to prevent, if possible, the destruction of the crop, but never 

 with entire success. I tried the " renovation" system, to a greater or less extent, 

 on a number of trees. In one case, I effected some improvement in the fruit, but, 

 usually, the application of the various ingredients which were recommended was 

 of no use. During the last season, I examined nearly every fruiting tree that 

 came under my notice, and I cannot now call to mind more than two or th 

 which bore uniformly perfect specimens. Many cultivators with whom I con 



