212 



THE CANAJDIAN HOBTICDLTURISTi 



favorite with most gi-owers and in most 

 markets, owing to its keeping qualities ; 

 it is also a variety that yields well. 

 The Danvers- Yellow I have never had 

 the success with that other growers re- 

 port ; it is hardy and a long keeper. 

 I raised the past season only the White 

 and Red Globe of Southport seed. The 

 " stand " was not a good one, owing to 

 unpropitious weather after the onions 

 had come up and while they were 

 growing out of the double, but I had 

 larger onions for it and the yield was 

 788 bushels per acre. The lai-gest onion 

 I weighed tipped the scale at 30 ounces, 

 and pound specimens were common. I 

 did not observe any difference in the 

 yield of these varieties, and have always 

 found them equal in that point to any 

 other kind, if properly managed. Three 

 others beside myself planted the same 

 seed the past season, used the same fer- 

 tilizers, and followed the same method 

 throughout that I did, and having a 

 better stand of onions beat me in the 

 result ; two of them had over 800 

 bushels per acre, and one upwards of 

 950. It is not necessary to state that 

 these growers will continue in the busi 

 ness, as they have all marketed their 

 crop at an average price of 75c. I began 

 marketing onions tliis year in just 120 

 days from planting. — N. Y. Homestead. 



PEAR BLIGHT. 



Among the numerous experiments, 

 relating to the diseases of plants, which 

 have been performed at the Station, 

 those on peai- blight have excited the 

 most interest. The first case of Vjlight 

 noticed in this vicinity was on a ]>ear 

 tree in a neighbor's yard, July 11, and 

 on July 26 a small l)i-anch of quince in 

 the Station garden was found blighted. 

 These were both promptly destroyed. 

 No other case of spontaneous occur- 

 rence of the disease has been observed 

 within a mile or more of the Station. 



It has,' however, appeared in consider- 

 able virulence among the pears and 

 quinces in some localities in this region. 



This seemed a most fa\'orable oppor- 

 tunity of investigating the infectious 

 uatvire of the disease, and accordingly 

 on July 16, a pear oi-chard was visited 

 and some of the diseased branches se- 

 cui-ed. Among these was one with 

 viscid, yellowish drops exuding from 

 the stem. With a needle a puncture 

 was made about an inch from the ex- 

 tremity of several branches of a pear 

 tree in the garden, and a very little of 

 this excretion inserted. It was applied 

 in the same manner to some terminal 

 leaves, but a difficulty in manipulation 

 rendered the result doubtful, for the 

 excretion being very sticky and the 

 leaf thin, it was not easy to remove it 

 from the needle and insure its remain- 

 ing in the wound. In from six to eight 

 days every branch innocvilated showed 

 unmistakable signs of the blight. The 

 bark turned brown and then blackish 

 about the puncture, the color extending 

 gradually through the stem, passing 

 upwards toward the end of the brancli 

 much faster than downwards or around 

 the branch. On the ninth day most of 

 the wounds exuded some of the same 

 viscid fluid which was used in the first 

 place. They were all removed on the 

 thii'teenth day to prevent the disease 

 securing any permanent hold on the 

 tree. Most of the infected branches 

 were blackened for a foot or more, and 

 all the tender young leaves as well, all 

 being thoroughly dead. It was notice- 

 able tliat the full-grown leaves were 

 rarely aftected, and mostly remained 

 green up to the time of the removal of 

 the branch. Only one of the inoculated 

 leaves became infected, and this was a 

 young, tender one. The disease spread 

 to the .stem, and worked the .same as in 

 tlie other cases. 



At the same time, a portion of the 

 same virus was applied to two young 



