r.2 



BLIGHT IN THE PEAR TREE. 



have already said, vigorous pruning is often 

 sufTicient to arrest its farther progress. 

 When it has thoroughly passed into the 

 system of the tree, there is no known reme- 

 dy. But perhaps a still more important 

 question to the orchard grower of pears is 

 this : Is there no certain preventive to this 

 most destructive form of blight, for those 

 soils and situations most exposed to it ? 



It is with a view of suggesting such a re- 

 medy, that we have called attention to the 

 subject, at the present time. We propose 

 to prevent the frozen-sap blight entirely, by 

 7i;hitewashing the stems and principal brofiches 

 of all valuable pear trees every autumn, after the 

 leaves have fallen. By this simple operation, 

 we think the injurious action of the sun 

 will be entirely prevented ; its rays will be, 

 for the most part, reflected, and the rapid 

 thawing of any large part of the bark ren- 

 dered entirely impossible.* 



It may seem to some persons that it 

 would be a tedious and troublesome process 

 to whitewash the trunks and larger branches 

 of all the pear trees in a large garden or 

 orchard, every season, just before winter. 

 We have only to answer to such an objec- 

 tion, that the loss of one valuable tree, in a 

 full bearing state, is a far more serious 

 matter than the cost of whitewashing a 

 good sized orchard, for half-a-dozen years. 

 An active man, with a large brush, a light 



» We presume all our readers are familiar with the effect of 

 the solar rays upon bodies of different colours, exposed to the 

 sunshine in winter. But it may not be amiss to repeat here 

 Dr. Franklin's experiment : 



" On a winter's day when the ground is covered with snow, 

 take four pieces of woollen cloth, of equal dimensions, but 

 of different colours, black, blue, brown and white, and lay 

 them on the surface of the snow, in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of each other. In a few hours, the black cloth will have 

 sunk considerably below the surface ; the blue almost as 

 much ; the brown evidently less ; and the white will remain 

 precisely in its former situation." 



To the above we also add the following :— '' Dr. Watson, 

 the present Bishop of Landaff. covered the bulb of a thermo- 

 meter with a black coating of Indian Ink, and the thermome- 

 ter presently rose 10°."— ffreg. Die. Arts and Sciences. 



Step-ladder, and a little practice, will brush 

 over a good many trees in a day. Where 

 this blight does not appear, it will not be 

 necessary. In districts where it is common, 

 if this should prove effectual, we are sure it 

 will be gladly resorted to. 



We have, ourselves, no great admiration 

 for whitewashed trees. They are rather 

 unplcasing and unnatural looking objects, 

 at the best. But if we can drive from our 

 gardens and orchards this monster malady 

 of the pear, by virtue of a lime coat, we 

 will be content to shut our eyes to all but 

 the economical view of the subject. 



Our readers will, we trust, consider our 

 preventive as one which we suggest for ex- 

 tensive trial, and not one which we give as 

 having borne the test of long experience. 

 We have been induced to give more than 

 usual examination of late, to this subject, 

 by having our attention called this season 

 to two most promising young pear orchards, 

 both just coming into a bearing state, and 

 both suffering greatly from this alarming 

 disease. These thrifty young specimens, 

 bearing infected spots on the south sides of 

 their trunks, began to droop at the ends of 

 the branches, early in June, and now are 

 only melancholy looking objects — dead al- 

 most down to the root. 



We have pointed out what seems to 

 us the most rational theory of this fatal 

 form of blight. Our proposed preventive 

 will be thoroughly tested in these two or- 

 chards affected by it during this coming 

 winter, and we beg our correspondents also 

 to give it a fair trial in various parts of the 

 country, and let us know the result. This or 

 any other remed}'-, which may prove suc- 

 cessful, will not only save large orchards 

 already planted, but will induce the planting 

 of thousands of pear trees in sections where 

 orchardists are only prevented from exten- 

 sive planting by the frozen-sap blight. 



