AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



55 



Fear continued. 



pushed inwards also. The spots are apt to run together ; 

 and, in bad cases, they may cover a large part of the 

 surface of the fruit. Sometimes they do not develop 

 conidia, but the short cells of the stroma may break 

 off, and may act as conidia, since they push out mycelium 

 threads, and reproduce the Fungus. This condition is 

 Spiloccea pomi, of Fries. The Fungus continues to grow 

 on the fruit after it is gathered and stored, and greatly 

 diminishes its marketable value, both by rendering it 

 unsightly, and by causing decay. The variety pyrinum 

 differs from the form on Apples chiefly in the rather less 

 regular form of the conidiophores or stalks. Remedies 

 must be directed to prevention, since no means are 

 known to effect a cure. Diseased trees, and also 

 those fruits that assume the diseased condition in the 

 storehouse, should be destroyed. Certain varieties are 

 peculiarly liable to injury from this Fungus, e.g., the 

 Louise Bonne, and should not be planted where liable to 

 infection from it. Mr. Smee has recommended as a 

 remedy to lift the trees, and give them some good top- 

 spit loam. 



Still another Fungus, destructive to the fruits of Pears, 

 and also hurtful to Apples, Plums, Cherries, and Apricots, 

 is that now frequently called Otdtum fructigenum, Lk. 

 It has also received the names of Torula fructigena, 

 Monilia fructigena, Oospora fructigena, and Acrogporium 

 fructigenum ; and, under one or other of these names, 

 it has been often noticed as injuring the fruits of 

 Rosaceous trees. It breaks through the epidermis of the 

 fruits in the form of small, yellowish-white, convex 

 masses or tufts of closely-packed, erect filaments. These 

 tufts are often grouped in concentric fashion. The fila- 

 ments, under the microscope, prove to be made up of 

 rows of bead-like cells, which tend to separate from one 

 another, and become elliptical or ovate, and act as 

 conidia, germinating on any suitable food. The filaments 

 branch freely, both near the tips and along the sides. 

 Pears and Apples usually show only diseased patches; 

 but Plums, at times, are so diseased that they become 

 entirely white, or yellowish-white. The mycelium has been 

 noticed on half-grown fruit on the trees, but the tufts in 

 general appear abundantly only on the ripe fruits, espe- 

 cially on such as fall, and lie for some time on the 

 ground. It has been observed that the presence of this 

 Fungus on the fruits renders the latter less liable to rot ; 

 and this has been explained by the fact that the Fungi 

 that cause rottenness find the fruits less favourable for 

 their nourishment after the growth of the Otdtum. That 

 it injures the fruits, however, cannot be doubted, and 

 they are rendered less suitable for man's use ; yet this 

 Fungus can scarcely be classed among the very injurious 

 species. Remedies against it must be very much the 

 same as against Cladosporium dendriticum ; no cure is 

 yet known. 



INSECTS. The Pear-tree is the food-plant of nume- 

 rous insects, but only a comparatively small number of 

 species ever do serious damage. All parts of the tree 

 are liable to be attacked. The roots, as in most trees, 

 are at times cut through by Mole Crickets, grubs of 

 Cockchafers, and other subterranean foes. For remedies, 

 tee Mole Cricket and Cockchafer. 



The trunk is bored into, especially in trees that have 

 become sickly from any cause, by beetles (see Scoly- 

 tidae), and by the larva of certain moths, of which the 

 most hurtful are the Leopard Moth, the Goat Moth, 

 and the Red-belted Clearwing (see Sesia). The last 

 species (Sesia myopceformis) hardly resembles a moth, as 

 the wings are narrow, and not scaly over most of their 

 surface, while the body is rather slender, and black, 

 with a bright red belt round the middle of the abdo- 

 men. The spread of wings is about iin. The larvae 

 are sometimes very numerous. There is no satisfactory 

 method of curing trees severely attacked by beetles, or 



Fear continued. 



by other insects, where the larvae live between the bark 

 and the wood, or in the wood. The mature insects 

 should be caught and destroyed, so far as practicable; 

 and, if there are signs that the insect-tenanted part is 

 of small extent, it may be advantageous to cut out the 

 bark, or the wood, in which the insects live; but this 

 can seldom be done. In the case of the Goat Moth 

 and the Leopard Moth, the suitable treatment is 

 given under their respective headings. It is some- 

 times well to uproot and destroy the tree while the 

 larvae are in it, in order thereby to prevent them from 

 spreading to adjoining trees. The loss is diminished by 

 the fact that trees inhabited by insects in bark or wood 

 are, as mentioned above, usually in a sickly state. If it 

 is desired to preserve the tree, it ought to be stimu- 

 lated in every practicable way to active growth; as it 

 may thus be enabled to resist its parasites, and to 

 repair the injuries it has suffered. Perhaps washes of 

 soft soap, or of lime, or of other substances disagreeable 

 to insects, might protect the parts subject to attack at 

 the time when the insects are laying their eggs. 



The younger branches are frequently attacked by the 

 Pear Oyster Scale (Aspidiotus ostreceformis). For an 

 account of the treatment suited for the removal of this 

 pest, which frequently proves very hurtful, see Scale 

 Insects. It is the female that is present on the 

 branches, like a minute oyster-shell, about ,yin. across, 

 slightly convex, wrinkled, and grey or reddish. When 

 this scale is removed, the female is seen, rounded or 

 heart-shaped, pale yellowish, and unprovided with limbs. 

 The male is smaller, is ochreous in colour, and has two 

 wings, long antennae, and six legs. Washing the 

 branches with soft soap and hot water, in winter, will 

 usually remove these Scale insects. Painting the branches 

 with linseed oil, or with paraffin, has also proved suc- 

 cessful. 



The leaves are preyed upon by numerous insects. 

 While young, they are gnawed by Otiorhynchut raucut, 

 and by other Weevils (see Rhynch.it es). For remedies 

 against these insects, see Otiorhynchus. 



The greater part of the insect foes of the Pear-tree 

 belong, however, to the Lepidoptera. The larvae of not 

 a few species feed on its leaves. Occasionally, those of 

 the large Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa polychloros), 

 and of the Black-veined White Butterfly (Aporia Crateegi) 

 (see Hawthorn Caterpillars), eat the leaves ; but far 

 more hurtful are those of the Lackey Moth (Bombyx 

 neustria), and of the species of Liparis. A few species 

 of the Noctuce are injurious to the Pear-tree, one of the 

 more striking in appearance being the larva of the 

 Dagger Moth (Acronycta psi), which bears a black- 

 pointed, fleshy hump on the back of the fifth ring of 

 the body, breaking a broad, yellow, black - bordered, 

 median, dorsal band. The other Noctuce, the larvae of 

 which are likely to be found on the tree, are less 

 noticeable. Those of several Geometer Moths feed on 

 Pear-leaves, as well as on other trees. Among the 

 more destructive are the species of Hybernia, and the 

 Winter Moth (Cheimatobia brumata). A good many of 

 the Tortricina (see Moths) also live on the Pear-tree, 

 and, like the Geometers, they almost all live between 

 leaves spun together, or rolled into a tube: hence, they 

 are protected from birds and other foes. Mention is 

 here made of the scientific names of only a few of those 

 known to live on this tree, viz., Toririx ribeana, Loto- 

 tcenia rosana, Hedya ocellana, Dictyopteryx contami- 

 nana, and Crcesia holmiana. Of the Tineina (see 

 Moths), a few live in the leaves, burrowing in their 

 substance, e.g., Coleophora hemerobiella. 



Beyond capturing the mature insects when possible, 

 little can be done for prevention of ravages by larvae on 

 Pear-trees, except as regards the Winter Moths, the 

 wingless females of which may be checked on their way 



