VOL. XVI. NO. 14. 



A N D GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



107 



Blight lu Pear Trees. 



Mr Samuel Reeve of Salem, N. J. has dis- 

 overed a metliod of preventing the inroads of 

 lis most dangerous disease, wliich has so often 

 roved fatal to tlie lio|)es ol the enlerprizing far- 

 ter and liorticultLircilist. The residt of his ob- 

 srvations, which present an entirely novel view 

 f the subject, were laid before a meeti.ig of the 

 lorticultural Socii;ty held in this city on the 

 1st inst. It will be observed that liie experi- 

 lents of Air R. refer principally to the pear tree, 

 s that is more liable to suffer from the Blight 

 lan any other. A personal conversation with 

 bis gentleman, together with n)ature reflection 

 pon the subject, has satisfied us that tlie preven- 

 ve suggested, could be successfully applied to 

 II fruit-bearing trees, subject tu Blight. The 

 iscovery strikes us as being of peeuliar 

 nportance at the present time, as within the 

 ist few years, the decay of fruit trees, in the 

 icinity of this city has been altogether unpre- 

 edented — so much so, indeed, that in relation 

 I one species (the Apple) we have heard a dis- 

 ngnished horticulturalist observe, that in less 

 lan ten years there would not be a single thriv- 

 ig plant of this description within as many 

 liles of the city ol Philadelphia. This however 

 lay be referred to various causes. 

 Mr Reeve observes in substance, that from a 

 !ries of experiments he had been enabled to i 

 leck the Blight of the Pear trees for a number , 

 f years, by finding the disease to originate from ] 

 le root, which being of a very porous or spongy 

 iture, absorbs moisture very rapidly, and if the 

 ood of the pear grafted thereon, be also of a 

 *rous nature, a rapid growth isthe consequence, 

 fiich is the reason why such pear trees outstrip 

 liters of a more close or compact wood ; the 

 ^ter he has found not to blight to as great a 

 :'gree as the former. 



|The Pear tree requires a soil that is of an 

 en cool temperature of moisture, the sudden 

 msition from wet to dry predisposing the tree 

 bligh'. Other cases occur when the tree has 

 en in constant tillage, with a sudden transi- 

 n of the sward, always terminating in bliglit 

 a greater or less degree. 



MrR. says he has seen the blight attack them 

 er accustomed to stand in sward by a sudden 

 Itivation by tillage, and that in all cases the 

 ar tree does best by keeping the ground cool, 

 d in an uneven temperature of moisture. 

 Many other fruit trees will bear all the sud- 

 n transitions from wet to dry and dry to wet, 

 ih tillage and without it. But not so with the 

 jr, the sap flowing through the porous pear 

 )t rapidly in the spring, and then suddenly 

 Bcked by drouth causes the blight, and the 

 'den flow of the sap in the summer, after hav- 

 j been checked, will generally cause a rapid 

 •gress of the blight. 

 The plan to be adopted is, that the roots of 



pear be kept in an even and cool teinpera- 

 e of moisture from the first of May till the 

 teenth of September, by covering the ground 

 h hay, stones, brick, &.c. three to four feet 

 ther out than the roots continue to extend, so 

 ck as to prevent the growth of grass. 

 The black spots in the wood of the part dis- 

 ed, originate from an overplus of the sap, 

 ich spots are the eflect, and not, as many 

 ipose, the cause of the disease. The pear 



tree ought never to be luxuriantly pruned, but 

 moderately every year in July or August, in a 

 dry season. 



Mr Reeve further informs us that for a num- 

 ber of years he has carried this plan in execu- 

 tion, on an exten.sive scale, and in every in- 

 stance, he has succeeded in checking the pro- 

 gress of the disease. Anyway that the rapid 

 growth to a medium can be checked, and so kept 

 restrained from spring to fall, will be conducive 

 to tlie longevity of the pear tree. The pear tree 

 wiU do well on quince, thorn, and apple roots, 

 the blight not attacking them as when grafted 

 on pear. The root of the pear is more spongy, 

 and absorbs the moisture more readily than the 

 quince, horn and apple, causing the difficulty 

 of keeping the pear to a requisite niediutii 

 growth. On examining other fruit trees affect- 

 ed with blight, the wood will be found soft and 

 very pourous when in a wet time, having had an 

 overflow of sap, which caused a surfeit or 

 blight. 



The more hard and compact the wood is, the 



less liability there is of blight ; the seckle pear 



is of that description, and will not require that 



attention in guarding against the disease as 



some others. When the roots of the pear are 



compact and less porous than ordinary, the hot 



ground with much rain, has not that effect in 



j blighting, which is the reason some trees have 



not been known to blight. In a general con- 



I elusion on the subject, the ground should be 



j kept cool through the summer, when an excess 



, of rain will not or rather cannot cause or create 



j the disease. It may be projier to observe that 



no variation ol size, soil or situation will affect 



the success of this experiment. 



Mr Reeve has promised us a further commu- 

 nication on the subject. The above remarks 

 are all essential at the present time, and we 

 trust that our friends in the country will give 

 them a fair trial. — Phtl.Satur. Eccning Post. 



The Goveknor's Addhebs, at the Odeon, on 

 Wednesday evening, before the Mechanic Asso- 

 ciation, on the occasion of its first Fair and Ex- 

 hibition, was an intellectual effort, never, in our 

 opinion, surpassed by any orator, who ever at- 

 tempted to describe the nature, the ability, and 

 the progress of the ]\Ieclianic Arts. 



The immense audience were as much electri- 

 fied and delighted with the display of the talents, 

 the elocution of the Master Workman, who 

 wrought in the Odeon, his appointed hour, as 

 they are with the superlatives, which now be- 

 deck Old Faneui! and Quincy Halls. His com- 

 parisons of the powers of mind of civilized and 

 savage men, and his description of the machin- 

 ery, which gave to the former his elevation above 

 the latter, struck every fibre of the heart, and 

 warmed our whole soul into an admiration and 

 reverence of those mighty minds, which origi- 

 nated the watch, the telescope, the compass — 

 and those which taught steam to put in useful 

 motion the material and mental works. His dis- 

 course, on this theme, was, we must confess, a 

 matchless one to our ears. It will be printed. 



On Horse Riding. — Horse riding is one of 

 the most healthful exercises that can be adop- 

 ted ; any suggestions, therefore, which may tend 

 to benefit so useful an animal as the horse, should 



be made as public as possible. The present 

 manner of horse riding in this country is very 

 bad ; the saddle is placed too far forward on the 

 horse, which prevents the shoulder blades mov- 

 ing with ease, and causes the aninial to stumble 

 and often to fall on his knees, leaving a blemish 

 during his life. It besides often causes a fistula 

 on the withers. The only remedy that can be 

 adopted to prevent the evil complained of, is to 

 fix a crupper to the saddle, to go under the tail 

 of the horse, so that the saddle may remain on 

 the centre of his back, by the aid of which the 

 rider, being seated on the spring of the back, 

 will be enabled to ride with more ease, and the 

 horse will travel with much greater facility. 

 That part of the crupper that goes under the 

 horse's tail, should have some flax or cotton 

 rolled round it, so as to make it one in^ch in di- 

 ameter, and over the flax or cotton should be 

 sewed a soft piece of leather, which will prevent 

 it from galling the horse's tail. A crupper, so 

 far Irom disfiguring a horse, is an ornament as 

 well as a benefit. 



A horse with his tail cut off is not worth so 

 much by twenty-five per cent, as he would be 

 otherwise. WM. CARVER, Farrier.— Jl/a2"ne 

 Farmer. 



A New Work — Our friend, the postmaster 

 of this city, Mr Green, has found time, without 

 neglecting his public duties, to translate four 

 short tales or novels, from the German, which 

 are in the press of tlie American Stationers' 

 Company, and will be published in a few days. 

 They comprise two duodecimo volutnes, and are 

 of a historical character, and very interesting. — 

 Courier. 



The Crops. — The accounts from the country 

 are truly gratifying. The crops promise to be 

 very abundant. There are on this peninsula 

 sixtyfive acres of excellent wheat, nearly ready 

 for the sickle. We have much pleasure in an- 

 nouncing this fact. So large an appropriation 

 of land in this neighborhood to the culture of 

 so valuable a grain, we believe, never took place 

 before, and we cannot but come to the conclu- 

 sion, that if wheat can be so successfully raised 

 on this peninsula, there is little doubt of its be- 

 ing easily cultivated in most parts of this Pro- 

 vince. We hope the example of the Halifax 

 farmers will have a good effect upon those in 

 the interior — that we may become every year 

 less dependant upon foreign sources for our sup- 

 ply of bread. — St. Johii's Gazette. 



To BOIL OLD Ham. — The boiling of bacon is 

 a very simple subject to comment upon, but our 

 main object is to teach coiinnon rooks lire art of 

 dressing comirroii food, in the best manner. Ba- 

 con is sometimes made as salt as salt can make 

 it ; if so it should be immersed in warm water or 

 parboiled for arr hour or two, chanftiiig the water 

 once ; then pare off tlie rusty and smoked part, 

 trim it nicely on the underside, and scrape the * 

 rind as cle:in as pos.sihje. Give it plenty of water 

 room, and put it in while the water is cold. A 

 middlinj: sized ham i.S 15 ponud.s, will be done 

 enoMgJi in aiiout 4 or 5 hours, accoiilins to its 

 thickness. — Cook's Ornde. 



New England Wool Crop. — Wool has be- 

 ciime the principal staple of New En^'lund, and 

 its pi-odnclion is i-apidly multi|ilyinj,' the number 

 iif rich farmers in all pans of its territory. 



