170 THE PRACTICAL GARDEN -BOOK 



The Pear thrives on clay soil, if well underdrained, and 

 for this reason may succeed in places where other fruits 

 might fail. A good, steady growth should be maintained, 

 but the use of nitrogenous manures should be avoided, as 

 they tend to make a rank growth and invite attacks of Pear 

 blight, which is the worst enemy of the Pear. 

 For summer fruits : Osband's Summer, Bart- 

 lett, Clapp and Manning Elizabeth are among 

 the best. For autumn : Duchess, Flemish 

 Beauty, Bosc, Louise Bonne, Seckel and 

 Sheldon. For winter fruit : Anjou, Clairgeau, 

 Lawrence and Winter Nelis are excellent. 

 Kieffer is an excellent commercial fruit, but it 

 is too poor to be given space in the home 

 Bartiett Pear's ground except as an ornamental tree. 



Of the Pear blight, Duggar writes as follows : 

 "REMEDIES, (a) The knife and the saw. With a dis- 

 ease working as this does, it is very evident that there is 

 no chance either for cure or prevention by means of spray- 

 ing. The heroic treatment of the knife and saw must be 

 adopted and vigorously pursued, as has been claimed from 

 the beginning. The blackened leaves alo^e must not 

 serve as signs of the diseased area, but one must examine 

 carefully the branches and remove them 6 inches or more 

 below the lowest discolorations. Often before cutting, 

 pruners slice the bark downward to see where the injury 

 ends. This should not be done; it is better to be sure that 

 you are below the infected area, and run no such risk of 

 infecting anew the tissues below. The cut surfaces of 

 larger limbs and branches should be painted for protection 

 against wound rots. 



"(&) When to cut. Cutting out diseased portions 

 should be done whenever the disease is evident. This may 

 check the injuries temporarily; but it has been shown that 

 much can be done in the autumn to prevent the establish- 

 ment of the disease the following spring. It has long been 



