418 



NEW ENGL.\]ST) FARMER. 



Sept. 



mnnaiierl as to create a far cjreater interest in the 

 matter, and tliiis lie wortli niillions of dollars to 

 the (.ountry. Will not our Fair men put their heads 

 tosretiicr and sec what tliey can do to make their 

 exhil>ition8 niore instnutivc and more attractive 

 to the men, women and children who ought to be 

 interested in these ipattcrs ? 



These inquiries and snsjjiestions arc made hy one 

 who has little hook knowledge, and are written 

 ■while tendins? the sap kettle at night, and are his 

 first words for any paper. j. i. c. 



Danbunj, N. H', March 30, 1868. 



CRACKING OF PEARS. 



I ha^-xi a very fine standard pear tree, (Flemish 

 Beaut}',) that for tlic last two years has not per- 

 fected its fruit. Has borne very full every year, 

 and the fruit grows to its full size, but a few weeks 

 before the lime for the I'ruit to mature it cracks 

 to the very core and falls off. Whoever will inform 

 me of a preventive for this disease will greatly 

 oblige A Subscriber. 



IVesi Mansfield, Mass., 1868. 



Remarks. — Fruit gi-owers generally appear to 

 know very little about the cause of the cracking 

 of certain kinds of pears. Not long ago the ques- 

 tion was propounded to the New York City Far- 

 mer's Club. One man said it was the want of clay 

 in the soil ; another stated that his pears on stiff 

 clay cracked badly. One Dr. Langinschwartz sug- 

 gested that it was caused by microscopic lice; 

 while another "Dr." with a shorter name, had used 

 the most powerful microscopes but could see no 

 insects. A "Prof." thought the disease the result 

 of want of materials in the soil to form a firm 

 skin. One member named ashes as a cure ; an- 

 other had used ashes abundantly, which made the 

 trees grow but did not prevent the cracking of the 

 fruit. The usual remedy is to re-graft to Bartlett, 

 Washington, Buffum, Anj ju, Howell and other 

 varieties which are never aifected in this way. 



We copy the following fiora a valuable paper on 

 \he "Diseases of the Pear," read by Thomas Mee- 

 han, Esq., editor of the Philadelphia Gardener's 

 Motithly, at the meeting of the American Pomologi- 

 cal Society, at St. Louis, Mo., last fall. Though 

 somewhat lengthy, we think those who have been 

 troubled, as we have, by the utter failure of fruit 

 from this cause, will read it with interest. 



"Of cracking there are two very distinct forms 

 In one case, there are byt one or two deep clefts, 

 going right in to the core. In our region, Beurrc 

 Gitfird and Onondaga are nearly worthless from 

 this disease. 1 cannot, of this, either form any 

 satisfactory theory of cause or cure. 



The other form of cracking is the one well known 

 to exist in the White Doyenne, and some other 

 kinds. This I have very clearly traced to a para- 

 sitic fungus. A))oul the middle of June, in dis- 

 tinct spots a little paler than the usual green 

 chlorophyl, it can be seen beneath the skin of the 

 leaves and young fruit. On placing these spots 

 imder a very powerful microscope, a cell-formed 

 fungus can be distinctly traced, with the young 

 cells in various stages of development. They de- 

 stroy all the plant's cells with which they come in 

 contact; bat as the species seems to propagate 



only by cells, and not by threads and runners, like 

 many, the damage from each nucleus does not ex- 

 tend far. However, after a couple of weekS, all 

 these cells are destroyed, both of the internal tis- 

 sue of the leaf and of the cuticle, and a small 

 black spot is the result. The whole time occupied 

 in the development of this fungus is not over three 

 weeks. The spores fly off into the atmosphere, 

 and are i)robably carried down into the earth by 

 rains. No further development seems to take place 

 that season. How these fungoid spores get into 

 the tissue I have been unable to decide. The only 

 way seems to be with the sap through the roots ; 

 but trees affected with this disease have been graft- 

 ed with Bartlett and other pears, and -no trace of 

 the fungus has been found on them, though four 

 years grafted. If the spores come through the 

 sap, one would suppose it would as well circulate 

 through the sap of a Bartlett as through that of a 

 White Doyenne. We can only say, that there are 

 delicate organisms in plants which we cannot 

 fathom, except to know their differences by their 

 effects. We know that the Bartlett, and White 

 Doyenne have no two things exactly in common. 

 These differences of organization it is which makes 

 one the Bartlett and one the White Doyenne. Ex- 

 actly what they are we canfiot appreciate, hut the 

 delicate fungus may. There may be food for it in 

 the Doyenne, but poison in the sap of the Bartlett. 

 I leave this matter to future researches, noting 

 here, that the fungus, after destroying the cuticle 

 of the pear, of course prevents expansion, while 

 the other parts, continuing to swell, draw away 

 from the indurated part, and thus mechanically 

 crack the pear. 



This fungus is often found abundantly on the 

 Seckel pear, but its skin being thicker, the injury 

 does not penetrate deep enough to prevent the due 

 swelling of the parts beneath ; hence the Seekel 

 cannot possibly ever crack from this fungus. 



It is clear, from this theory of the disease, which 

 I unhesitatingly advance as the true one, that no 

 wa-^hings, waterings, scrapings, or external appli- 

 cations of any kind, can possibly have any effect. 

 The only course 1 see is, for the cultivator to care- 

 fully watch his orchard, and when any leaves show- 

 ing the pale blotches of this fungus appear, pick 

 them off and burn them, before they have time 

 to mature and scatter their spores for another sea- 

 son's crop. On very large trees this cannot be 

 done, but in young orchards it might be more 

 easily performed. 1 would also have all leaves 

 which fall early with this disease burned as they 

 fall. So extensive is this trouble of leaf fungus, 

 that it seems almost puerile to recommend a rem- 

 edy so disproportionate to the evil; but I can see 

 nothing better." 



BLIOKTED CHERRIES. 



I herein enclose a lot of our plums. They are 

 the common hardy red plum, and for several years 

 have been subject to this sudden enlargement after 

 blossoming. We call them puffs, they puff up so 

 suddenly. I picked all these from a tree to-day, 



