1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



759 



PEAR-BT.IGHT. 



It has just been my pleasure to visit the 

 great pear-growing sections of northern Cal- 

 ifornia. As is well known, these orchard 

 counties (and they number nearly all of the 

 northern counties of our great State) have 

 reaped great profits from the pear industry. 

 Until quite lately, nearly all the on-hards 

 have been very healthy. If we may except 

 the codling moth, scarcely any evil menaced 

 the success of the pear-grower, especially if 

 there were bees hard by to pei-form the work 

 of cross-pollination. True, the pear-orchards 

 near Fresno were wiped out by this same 

 pear-blight some years ago; but for the most 

 part the pear was a sure winner, and the lus- 

 cious Bartlett was so melting and delicious 

 that it had an almost unlimited sale at very 

 high prices. 



A few years ago, as our readers know, the 

 blight broke out in many of the orchards. It 

 is a curious fact that it seemed like the grip 

 a few years ago — it attacked the orchards in 

 nearly all the pear-growing regions, hardly 

 an orchard escaping. This is a bacterial or 

 germ disease, and we now know the specific 

 germ that does the fell mischief. It works 

 and does its poisonous work in the juices of 

 the tree, and must be transferi'ed from one 

 tree to another in a liquid or semi-liquid me- 

 dium. It works on other rosaceous trees like 

 the apple, wild crab, etc., and even on the 

 loquat, which, though of the same family, 

 seems quite different from the apple and the 

 pear. It seems that the germs of the disease 

 must be carried in a liquid. The disease is 

 carried then when the trees are in bloom, in 

 the nectar, and at any time, probably, in the 

 resin of the buds and in the gum. * I think 

 the people have become convinced that they 

 would have the disease, and that it would 

 spread just the same were there no bees, as 

 there are enough other insects to do the evil 

 work. 



^^ 



UNITED EFFORT. 



We have just had, the past two years, a 

 splendid example of how the people ought to 

 work, and what excellent results will be 

 gained when State and government act in 

 fullest unison. Prof. Ralph E. Smith, work- 

 ing for the State, and Prof. Milton D. VVaite, 

 working for the Department of Agriculture, 

 have been working with the orchardists in 

 fullest aecoi'd, battling this pear-scourge. 

 They have gone far enough to show that the 

 blight can Ije overcome if the fruit-growers 

 will only ac^t with the energy that the impor- 

 tance of the matter demands. As is well 

 known, the leaves wilt and become discolor- 

 ed, as if the twigs were broken. Thus it is 



easy to see when a tree is struck with the 

 disease. Again, the bark hardens and be- 

 comes close to the wood, and dry. The 

 wood is also discolored. The work is both 

 winter and summer work. In summer all 

 twigs that show wilt are at once cut off 

 much below the wilt to be sure to get all 

 the germs. After the knife or clippers are 

 used to cut the twig they are dipped in some 

 disinfectant before they are used again. This 

 pruning can not be too closely looked after, 

 it pays to get a man, if the orchard is a large 

 one, especially to watch and prune. In fall 

 and winter the trunk and main roots are 

 gouged out with a chisel; and if the sugges- 

 tive stain is seen, then it is known that the 

 whole tree is affected, and all the tree is dug 

 up and burned. It is not a long chore to in- 

 spect a tree, and it will pay well to be very 

 thorough. In case the work is done as it 

 should be, the orchard will not likely lose 

 many trees. I find that those that have been 

 the most careful are the most hopeful. One 

 man who has taken hold of the matter with 

 great energy told me that he would not have 

 any fear of complete success if he could oaly 

 get his neighbors to act with the same vim 

 that he is showing. The tx'ouble is that, a 

 single tree omitted or undiscovered, will, 

 when it blossoms out, become a center of in- 

 fection for a large area. The fact that many 

 will let their orchards go will cause the loss 

 of the same, and the effect will be to raise 

 the price of pears; and so very likely the man 

 that works 'hardest to keep the enemy at bay 

 will be really a gainer, and get more in ad- 

 dition for his crop than the fighting has cost 

 him. 



I was much pleased to find that the fruit- 

 growers are well awai'e of the great good 

 that the bees do in pollinating the bloom. 

 Nearly all of the leading fruit-men know and 

 openly recognize the fact that they owe a 

 great deal to the bees, and could not meet 

 the best success without them Some of the 

 fruit-men have even hired bee-men to bring 

 their apiaries into the orchards. 



LOSS BY FLOODS. 



There have been some very serious floods 

 along the Sacramento River". Many of the 

 tracts are called "reservations," ancl are le- 

 veed at the general expense of those protect- 

 ed. Several of these reservations are flood- 

 ed, and in many cases whole apiaries in the 

 flooded regions are ruined. The water was 

 never so high before. I had 75 acres, half in 

 asparagus and the rest in alfalfa. It is now 

 all several feet under water. Of course, the 

 crop will be ruined this year, and it will cost 

 much to repair the levees; but the land will 

 be enriched, and it is so immensely produc- 

 tive that we can aft'ord to lose an occasional 

 crop, and yet be ahead. Of course, if it 

 could have been foreseen, the bees coukl 

 have been carried to higher land, and saved. 



HONEY FK0:M the ORANGE. 



To-day is warm, and the bees are making 

 merry on the orange-bloom. We can not ex- 



