136 TJie Western Pomologist and Gardener. 1872 



Do they dread Vae. fungi or the severity of their winters f The latter, of course. Soil haa 

 to some extent a modifying influeflce, but not a controlling one. 



Now so far as fungi are found to be in portions of the pear trees affected with blight, 

 and therefore claimed to be the cause, we would say, that this is a position assumed, and 

 not proven. It is in our judgment an utter confounding of the whole question in con- 

 troversy. That the fungi and the disease are sometimes found together, is no evidence, 

 aside from any other, which is the cause and which the effect ; or whether both are not 

 the result of some other cause. The latter would seem to be the more reasonable con- 

 clusion. 



We here take the positioa that blight in the pear tree is produced by atmospheric influ- 

 ences, and \,\i&\, fungi may be produced by the vitiated sap of the blighted tree, when found 

 there. The question at issue is, not whether fungi are found in blighted trees, but whether 

 the fungi produce the blight. Upon the settlement of this point, hinges the whole contro- 

 versy between the fungoid and antifungoid theories. We have read many articles writ- 

 ten by numerous persons upon Pear Blight, and while almost all of them differ in many 

 points, there is one point however, upon which there is a singular agreement, and that is 

 that trees with weU ripened wood are much more exempt from attacks of blight than those 

 ■with unripened wood. And the exemption from or liability to this disease is in exact pro- 

 portion to the maturity of the wood. If then this position, so universally admitted, be 

 true, another very embarrassing difficulty in the way of the fungus theory presents itself 

 and that is this. Blight of which fungi are said to be the exciting cause, shows itself in 

 full development during the mouths of May and June, while the wood is in a state of the 

 most active growth, consequently the ripened wood above referred to must look back to 

 the preceding season and not to the present one, for the wood ha^ not yet commenced to 

 ripen. Blight therefore must go back to the season before its development for its cause. 

 If fungi were the cause, the development and the cause would be simultaneous, or as 

 nearly so as cause and effect could well be to each other. If instead of so pertinaciously 

 insisting that fungi are the cause of blight, the advocates of this theory would refer it 

 to atmospheric vicissitudes, their theory would be in keeping with the circumstances sur- 

 rounding this disease. But up to this time they have neither told us the lohy nor the hour 

 of their operation. We cannot close our remarks without referring to a paper lately read 

 by President Hoops before the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Society. Although a 

 decided advocate of the fungoid theory of blight, he makes in conclusion the following 



remarks." 



" Whether fungi is (are) the cause of disease, or merely a natural consequence of some 

 disarrangement of the organs of the tree or plant, has long been a much disputed point, 

 many scientific men being arrayed on either side. Of late years, however, the question 

 appears to have been pretty generally settled in favor of the advocates of the former belief. 

 Yet it is an undeniable fact that these pests will attack a feeble tree or plant in preference to 

 one in a healthy condition, after the manner of all paracites, whether animal or vegetable." 



This we hold to be a virtual surrender of this whole fungus theory of peab blight. If 

 they, as here admitted, attack a feeble or unhealthy tree or plant in preference to one in 

 a healthy condition, then the disease exists before the attack is made, and of course the 

 fungi are not the cause. This is all the opponents of the fungus theory claim. The admis- 

 sion here made very clearly and correctly indicates that the diseased condition of the ani- 

 mal or plant, is the food upon which the paracite feeds and thrives. A few more candid, 

 admissions of this sort from similar sources will put this mooted question to rest. The 

 importance of this question must be our apology for using so much space. 



A Lady Horticulturist. — The Merrimack (N. H.) Journal says Mrs. Stephen Ken- 

 rick, of Franklin, has the finest variety of pear, plum trees and grape vines to be found in 

 any fruitery in Merrimack county. She does all the grafting and pruning with her own 

 hands, and manages the whole establishment with no interference from outsideis. She 

 has some 25 varieties of the grape, and in these and her pears she has the most superb 

 display in their season. 



