ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF HARDY BLIGHT-RESISTING PEARS. 101 



though we hope it will be of great value for the Pacific Coast. 



I am indebted to Mr. F. C. Reimer, superintendent of the 

 Oregon Experiment Station, for information and extent of effort 

 and interest which attaches to securing blight resistant stocks 

 through a large number of the wild species of pear from China. 

 This effort dates only a few years back, while the work at 

 Charles City to breed hardy and blight resistant trees be- 

 gan thirty-two years ago, with a Chinese pear naturally crossed 

 with some of our best and nearest non-blighting American and 

 European pears. 



The size of the fruit of the specie which I have, though 

 small, is far larger than this new specie, which is only the 

 size of a large garden pea. 



I have here a few views which will help to show the status 

 of the work at the Charles City Station. The first one shown 

 is of a tree which I denominated Seckel, No. 1, a seedling 

 of the Seckel which has borne for the last five years in succes- 

 sion, this last year about two bushels. For two years, 1914 and 

 1915, this tree was surrounded with blight, both on the ap- 

 ple and the pear, and was not touched by it. The fruit is a 

 half larger than its parent Seckel. It is good in quality, hangs 

 well to the tree and is an early bearer, as some budded limbs 

 indicate. Top-worked on this hardy Chinese stock which I 

 have, it should be a success in this latitude (at Minneapolis), 

 as the winter climate here and at Charles City are nearly the 

 same. 



The next view is of a Warner pear, top-worked on the 

 Orel, which has borne more or less generally a heavy crop for 

 some six or seven years past and has never blighted. It was 

 blown down on September 5th by a sixty mile wind with its 

 very heavy weight of fruit. This is but one of several experi- 

 ments with varieties top-worked high up on these blight re- 

 sisting stocks which have proven quite a success. 



The Bezi de Lamott on the old Chinese tree and Winter 

 Nelis on Orel, as also Vermont Beauty, are excellent pears 

 and their uniting smoothly when top- worked on these, hardy 

 stocks is of much value. 



The last view shows the worker and some of his work. 



The study of this fruit breeding problem and the great 

 economic and aesthetic value which attaches to it, led the writer 

 to prepare a paper for the American Pomological Society which 

 met at Tampa, Florida in 1911 on "the adaptation of the pear 



