368 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Bacterian Theory of Pear Blight. — 

 William C. Medcalf, 98 .Avenue D, North St. Paul 

 street, Rochester, N. Y., writes: "The papers on 

 the above subject, which have appeared in the 

 Gardeners' Monthly, do not as clearly point 

 out the originator of this theory as they do the ap- 

 parent plausibility of its soundness. It would, 

 however, seem to rest with one of two individuals, 

 or with both, viz.; William Creed, of this locality, 

 and Professor J. T. Burrell, of Ilhnois. If you 

 could enlighten us on the above query you would 

 undoubtedly confer a favor upon the inquisitive in 

 search of facts, as well as clear up a doubt to the 

 satisfaction of those giving attention to the study 

 of the disease, as based upon this most recent 

 hypothesis. Perhaps both the above gentlemen 

 can give aid as to the time of their respective 

 standpoints of investigation." 



[Professor Burrell made the first absolute state- 

 ment that Bacteria were the cause of the "blight" 

 in the pear, at the meeting of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science in Boston ; 

 though the statement tha't it was caused by the 

 development of some minute organism closely 

 allied, if not the same, was made in our columns 

 some years before by Professor J. Gibbons Hunt, 

 of Philadelphia. Dr. Hunt's demonstration, how- 

 ever, seemed to point to some very low ferment 

 fungus than to a bacterium, and it is by no means 

 certain yet that this is not the case. After fer- 

 mentation is once started, as it would by a wound, 

 one would be quite likely to tind bacteria there. 

 For they are omnipresent, feeding on decaying 

 matter and watching for more. We may find 

 them by millions in every one's mouth, and, it is 

 said, in dew drops, as well as in a branch with the 

 pear "Wight."— Ed. G. M.] 



Disease in R.\spberries. — "J." writes: "My 

 neighbor has some very thrifty Blackcap rasp- 

 berries that, after sending up stout canes five and 

 six feet high, began suddenly to die about four 

 weeks since, and some are now dying. On ex- 

 amination I found no evidence of the work of any 

 insect boring at tip or root or on the leaves, but 

 the cane died throughout its entire length and in 

 one to two weeks' time. Digging up a very large 

 nearly dead plant. I found nestling in the bark at 

 the crown of the root a nest of young millipeds. 

 The bark was rotten and the stem practically 

 girdled. Could these little millipeds, as large as 

 a knitting needle and perhaps one inch or less 



long, have done the mischief, and if so, what 

 remedy ? The Redcaps were not affected, and 

 only here and there one of the Blackcaps. 



[Millipeds, or "hundred legs," we do not 

 think, often injure plants to any great extent. 

 They feed on softer things than wood or bark. 

 The description seems like some of the fungus 

 troubles that very often follow the track of the 

 raspberry grower. There is also a raspberry 

 borer that is often destructive. — Ed. G. M.] 



RiTSON Pear.— Stone & Wellington, Toronto, 

 Canada, write : " We mail you to-day a sample of 

 a new seedling pear, which we call ' Ritson.' 

 The original tree is over 65 years of age, and still 

 bears large crops of fine fruit. While other 

 varieties have been planted and grown in the 

 same field, and after a few years have yielded to 

 blight or some other cause, this tree has never 

 been affected in any way, either by severe 

 weather or disease of any kind. We believe we 

 have in this pear an iron-clad variety of merit. 

 The fruit, as you will see, is of very good quality, 

 and as the tree is an abundant yearly cropper, 

 and also very hardy, we believe that it will be an 

 acquisition to our list of pear trees. Will you 

 kindly give us your opinion ? The original tree 

 stands at Oshawa, Ontario, 33 miles east of this 

 city." 



[This is a small pear, about four inches in 

 length, and truly pyritorm. Its chief merits, no 

 doubt, lie in the hardiness and other character- 

 istics related to the high Northern latitude, and of 

 which we cannot judge from a single specimen of 

 the fruit. This, on the loth of October, was in 

 good eating condition, and the expression of our 

 correspondent, "very good," does full justice to 

 its eating qualities. — Ed. G. M.] 



Apple, Bentley's Sweet.— "J. G. R. K.," Lov- 

 ettsville, Va., writes : " I cannot let the opportunity 

 pass to send you a veteran apple by mail, that I 

 found with several others in a box in the cellar, 

 perfectly sound, where they had been placed last 

 fall (1884). The apples in the box had been used 

 until strawberries and other early fruit came in. 

 They were then let alone, and forgotten (perhaps 

 half bushel). 



On looking up boxes to use for apples again, I 

 found the sound apples in the box among the rot- 

 ten ones, and were filthed over by mice working 

 among the rotten ones for the seed. This is the 

 second time I have found sound specimens of this 

 variety in the bottom of boxes, that had been 

 placed there twelve months previous, and no 



