1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



285 



Fire-blight as synonymous, yet, what most fruit 

 culturists know as twig-blight is certainly the work 

 of an insect, and the two terms would not be gen- 

 erally regarded as synonyms. This confusion 

 then naturally results in the question, do these 

 gentlemen mean the same thing by Fire-blight as 

 we do ? Prof. Arthur's idea is that the chief char- 

 acteristic is the blackening of the branches and 

 foliage, usually accompanied with a peculiar putre- 

 factive odor. But there are several troubles that 

 are characterized in this way that are certainly not 

 due to the causes that produce what most fruit 

 growers know as Fire-blight. There is a sudden 

 blackening of the leaves that seldom reaches even 

 the petioles, very common among pear-trees about 

 midsummer ; and there is a blackening of the 

 leaves and young stems soon after they push in 

 spring, and which the old folks, for want of better 

 knowledge, called " Frozen-sap blight," which, no 

 doubt, of fungus origin, is not Fire-blight. And then 

 we know that the true Fire-blight starts at some 

 fixed spot on a branch, killing the tissue only for a 

 few inches, and that it is only when the branch is 

 literally girdled for these few inches, thus stopping 

 the upward flow of the sap, that the upper leaves 

 turn black, presumably for want of food. Yet, as 

 we understand it, bacteria are found in these black 

 leaves, as they are in all decaying substances, and 

 we have not been able in our minds to connect the 

 bacterium introduced into a four or five year old 

 branch by inoculation, and which may girdle it, 

 with the bacterium found in the dying leaves, be- 

 cause there is so much bark tissue uninjured 

 between the dying leaves and the small spot where 

 the enemy's attack was made. 



Again, Prof. Arthur regards the " Apple-blight " 

 and Pear (Fire) blight as identical in origin. But 

 there are so many forms of " blight " in the apple, 

 that must have different originations, that we again 

 wonder whether the author and reader can possi- 

 bly mean the same thing. There is one kind that 

 seems to start early in the spring by eating away 

 both wood and bark, getting deeper and wider each 

 year, but only once in a while extending wholly 

 round the stem. It may work for several years 

 before it gets completely round, but when it does 

 the whole foliage above blackens and dies — not 

 quite — but nearly as suddenly as in the usually 

 recognized " Fire-blight." -A^nother form seems to 

 delight in operating at the point of junction with a 

 branchlet and branch. In this case a tree often 

 presents the pecuharity of nearly all the smaller 

 branchlets in the interior of the tree with browned 

 or blackened leaves. When the leading branches 



die we have rarely seen more than the growth 

 of the last year suffer; we do not know that we 

 ever saw an aged branch, or a whole tree, go off "in 

 a night " as we tind in the pear-tree they often do. 

 These different experiences lead one to doubt 

 whether the author and the reader have the same 

 ideas when the same terms are used ; and we be- 

 lieve it is because this uncertainty very frequently 

 arises that the conviction which the authors of such 

 treatises as this hope to carry to the reader's mind, 

 fail to have the desired effect. 



The A.\ieric.\n Florists. — The .'American 

 Florists had a good time at Cincinnati. There 

 were some four hundred in attendance, Philadel- 

 phia having much the largest delegation present 

 outside of the place of meeting. Twenty-one 

 Philadelphians were present. New York coming 

 next with sixteen. The papers were of a high or- 

 der of excellence. President John Thorpe dwelt 

 chiefly on the reasons for the society's existence. 

 24,000,000 cut roses were sold last year; carnation 

 flowers bethought would reach 125,000,000; $200,- 

 000 represent about the amount paid the Dutch 

 last year for hyacinths and tulips ; 700 people 

 are supposed to be engaged in selling florists' sup- 

 plies, and there are probably 2000 cut flower 

 sellers. Florists have grown four-fold in ten 

 years. Catalogues have increased five-fold — these 

 make trade for those who do not catalogue. 

 Florists are the most generous of human beings. 

 Few people give so much of their ware to public 

 institutions as florists. Still, it was a generosity that 

 paid by the increase of floral taste. There were 

 2,000 first-class gardeners in the United States, 

 and thousands of amateurs without professional 

 help. The address was well received. 



The Rose essay of John May was an exhaustive 

 treatise, and one of the best features of the conven- 

 tion. The tea rose was the most important to the 

 cut flower grower. Cuttings are put in in January. 

 In about six weeks they are shifted to four-inch 

 pots ; in four or five weeks shift to 6s or 7s. 

 About the end of June they are planted in shallow 

 benches. Manure water is notgiven till February. 

 Mildew is cured by sulphur and linseed oil or 

 milk, painted on the pipes. Green fly is banished 

 by tobacco stems on the floor of the house. Hybrid 

 perpetuals do best flowered wholly in pots. Dried 

 off about 1st of August, if wanted by Christmas, 

 starting growth about middle of September. Mr. 

 May concluded his admirable essay by some en- 

 couraging thoughts about raising seedling roses. 

 Craig, of Philadelphia, Henderson, of Flushing, 



