68 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1875. 



Jaques and John C. Ripley ; of Frkderic Wm. Paixe and Sam- 

 uel H. CoLTON ; should be conspicuous upon these walls. Salisbury 

 and Lincoln, (D. Waldo ;) Bullock and Dewey ; Hill and Rich- 

 ardson ; Francis and Hadwen ; long may it be ere their title to 

 precedence shall be based upon the fact of their absence from our midst ! 

 We can offer them no substantial remuneration for official tidelit}' or zeal 

 in our service. But the least that we ought to do, and it is little enough, 

 is to procure their portraits for these Halls ; that, from a study of them, 

 our successors may be enabled to form some idea of how they looked to 

 whom it is, and will continue to be chiefly due, that the Worcester 

 County Horticultural Society fell heir to a goodly heritage. 



The Blight, so fatal to the Pear, has been unusually destructive within 

 the past year. Complaint of its ravages is heard from all sections of the 

 Republic. Here a vigorous leader, there small branches and short twigs 

 throughout the entire top, gave unmistakable token of the malign influ- 

 ence. Particular varieties seem peculiarly susceptible, while at their 

 worst estate not communicating the infection. The writer has utterly 

 lost the Glou Morceau, but the Josephine de Malines, upon the very same 

 stock, appeared in perfect health. The Bartlett remains unaft'ected, but the 

 new Beurre de 1' Assomption, engrafted upon it perished to the last scion. 

 The Washington thrives luxuriantly, although every branch of the Belle 

 Lucrative has to be amputated. And the Belle Lucrative has withered, 

 root and trunk in a night, leaving the Souvenir du Congres high in the 

 air, after three years of vigorous growth, thrifty, but of course doomed. 

 Among the causes of this Blight, over-stimulation by an excessive appli ■ 

 cation of fertilizers, especially stable manure is assigned by some. Yet, 

 in the observation of your Secretary, trees growing in grass have suffered 

 equally with others which, situated in the heart of Raspberry plantations, 

 were compelled to partake of the rich nutriment so indispensable in the 

 culture of that exquisite fruit. Has any one seen harm come to the 

 Louise Bonne de Jersey, no matter how heavily manured ? Does the 

 Seckel ever manifest a symptom of Blight ? There is a Pear Orchard 

 upon Mill Streel, in this city, if the ownei will pardon the allusion, in 

 which the omnipresence of Blight was equally conspicuous with the ab- 

 solute innocence of manure. Sudden atmospheric changes, (notal)ly 

 thunderstorms,) have also been charged with the developement, if not 

 production of this disease. But, whatever may have been alleged, here- 

 tofore, with greater or less plausibility, it is noteworthy that the Jilight, 

 which raged virulently during the vernal months of 1875, received a 

 decided, if not absolute check, after the intense electrical disturbances 



