lt>42 



KNCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



pealed to Hon. .lames Wilson, then Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture, to send as many men 

 as he had available, to aid in what was 

 thought to be almost a hopeless case. 

 Blight was everywhere, with the excep- 

 tion of the Santa Clara valley, which to 

 this day has kept it out by very caroful 

 work. The task undertaken was an enor- 

 mous one, and the amount of territory 

 necessary to be covered was so large that 

 every available source of help was called 

 for, and the campaign finally started in 

 the early winter of 1905. The time was 

 short, but good work was done. In many 

 districts where there was a willingness 

 to co-operate with the Government offi- 

 cers the blight was checked; in others, 

 where conditions were the reverse, the 

 blight gained headway. The result ot 

 several years' work, which has been car- 

 ried on up to the present time by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 

 is that several districts in the Sacra- 

 mento valley and adjacent valleys have 

 saved their pears. There are particular 

 instances where practically everything 

 went excepting single orchards which 

 were saved by individual growers, by 

 using heroic measures and carrying into 

 effect every detail given them by the 

 Government officers. To this day these 

 men continue to grow pears, while their 

 neighbors are entirely out of the busi- 

 ness. They are charged with being lucky, 

 but there is no luck in fighting pear 

 blight; it is careful attention to details 

 and constant watchfulness. 



In the foothill districts of Eldorado, 

 Placer and Nevada counties, to the east 

 of Sacramento, the loss has been exceed- 

 ingly light. The growers in these sec- 

 tions began their fight at an early stage 

 and have kept it up unceasingly, so that 

 at this time there are probably no fewer 

 bearing pear trees than there were years 

 ago. 



It would be very difficult to tell how 

 many trees were lost in California 

 throughout the entire state, but the fig- 

 ures taken from the carload shipments 

 will tell the story pretty well. In 1900 

 California shipped 2,115 carloads of 

 pears, and in the same year 7,275 tons 



were dried, and perhaps half a million 

 cases were canned. In 1907 only 1,039 

 cars were shipped and only 500 tons 

 were dried. We have no data on the 

 canned product, but it is well known 

 that it fell off correspondingly. Such 

 lignn-s should strike terror into any com- 

 munity whose industry is that of grow- 

 ing pears and apples. 



Importance of ratliolo«lcaI Work 

 The importance of the pear blight 

 problem to the horticultural interests 

 of the Pacific Coast states emphasizes 

 very clearly the value and neces- 

 sity of plant pathological work. What 

 each district needs is a strong man, who 

 is both scientific and practical, for hand- 

 ling such a difficult problem. Not only 

 does each district need the constant and 

 careful attention of a trained pathologist, 

 but it needs inspectors and commission- 

 ers who will see to it that the horticul- 

 tural statutes are rigidly enforced. If a 

 grower chooses to lose his crop by any 

 disease which is not considered conta- 

 gious or spreading, and which may 

 readily be controlled by simple spray 

 treatments, it is his own lookout; but 

 where his pears and apples are a source 

 of general infection from pear blight it 

 becomes a matter for the district com- 

 missioner and local inspector. There is 

 only one remedy, and that is to Increase 

 the inspection and to make it rigid. Per- 

 haps one other thing might be added. It 

 would be a wise plan for each county or 

 district to appoint a large number of vol- 

 unteer inspectors who would serve with- 

 out pay in their own interest, but who 

 would be vested with authority to inspect 

 and condemn within their immediate 

 neighborhood. 



Factors in the Control of Pear Blight 

 During the season of 1913 pear blight 

 was more severe in many districts on the 

 Pacific coast than it had been for several 

 years previous. In many sections the in- 

 fection was such as to cause a great deal 

 of loss, and generally the disease was in 

 the form of a severe epidemic. The ques- 

 tion is often asked, "Why do we have 

 epidemics of pear blight." This question 



