A REVIEW OF OPINIONS ON PEAR TREE BLIGHT, 



495 



My acquaintance with the merits of this 

 fruit commenced on the 22d of October, 

 1846. On that day, while passing under 

 the tree, I picked up a prematurely ripe, 

 half decayed fruit, from the ground, and was 

 agreeably surprised at its fine flavor. Mr. 

 Smith had more than once recommended 

 this pear to my notice ; but the unfavora- 

 ble impression made on me by its parentage 

 prevented an earlier estimate of its value. 



The fruit is above medium size, obovate, 

 sometimes pyriform, and regularly sprinkled 

 with small, distinct russety dots : when ful- 

 ly ripe, of a greenish yellow colour, with oc- 

 casionally a faint brownish check. Stalk, 



slender, three-fourths to one inch in length, 

 inserted in a small cavity ; sometimes there 

 is an elevation on one side of this cavity. 

 Calyx, small, in a round shallow basin. 

 Flesh, of a beautiful golden color, crisp, 

 ! juicy, with a rich aromatic flavor. 

 Eipe from January till April. 



W. D. B. 



Philadelphia, April, 1846. 



[We are not only indebted to our esteem- 

 ed friend for the foregoing description and 

 outlines of these interesting native fruits, 

 not before published, but also for grafts of 

 the same. — Ed.] 



A REVIEW OP OPINIONS ON PEAR TREE BLIGHT. 



BY L. C. EATON, OF PROVIDENCE, R I.* 



Another theory is that the disease arises 

 from varieties having arrived at or near 

 their natural limits of duration. Dr. Dar- 

 win, in his dissertation on the diseases of 

 plants, describes, under the title canker,* or 

 gangrena vegetabilis, a disease which Ave 

 should presume to be fire blight. He calls 

 it an ulcer of the bark, and says it is very 

 destructive to apple and pear trees, and re- 

 commends that the affected parts should be 

 cut out, and paint laid on the hard wood. 

 He states that " Mr. Knight has remarked 

 that this disease is most apt to attack those 

 fruits which have been long known, and 

 supposes it to be a disease of old age." 

 This seems to be the opinion of Coxe, who 

 says, " From repeated observation of the 

 kinds, most liable to this malady, (the fire 

 blight,) I have been led to believe that it is 



* We presume that the fire blight in Europe is generally 

 calletl canker McIntosh, treating of pears, speats of can- 

 ker " caused by the wood being imperfectly ripened in bad 

 autumiw." 



somewhat connected with a principle which 

 appears to be considered sound by the most 

 judicious European writers, when treating 

 of apple trees, that is, the long duration of 

 the variety. It is certain that natural trees, 

 continually springing up from seed, are sel- 

 dom attacked by this disease ; and the 

 Seckel pear, generally supposed to be a 

 new variety, is but little affected by it ; of 

 fifty bearing trees of this kind, of various 

 ages, I have not lost one entire tree from 

 this cause. This year, for the first time, I 

 have seen the limbs of some of them par- 

 tially affected, and in some instances seve- 

 ral large branches have been destro3'ed." 



Before any reliance can be placed upon 

 the correctness of this theory, it is necessa- 

 ry to establish the fact that the existence of 

 varieties is limited to a certain period, a 

 question frequently discussed and of much 

 doubt. The disease, however, not only at- 

 tacks old varieties, but those of more recenj 



• Concluded from last No. 



