412 THE PEAR. 



The pear succeeds so well as an open standard, and requires 

 so little care for pruning — less, indeed, in the latter respect, 

 than any other fruit tree, that training is seldom thought of, 

 except in the gardens of the curious or skilful. The system of 

 quenouille or distaff training, an interesting mode of rendering 

 trees very productive in a small space, we have already fully de- 

 scribed in p. 37, as well as root pruning for the same purpose 

 in p. 32. 



In orchard culture, the pear is usually planted about thirty 

 feet distant each way ; in fruit gardens, where the heads are 

 somewhat kept in by pruning, twenty feet is considered suffi- 

 cient by many. 



Pear trees, in a bearing state, where the growth is no longer 

 luxuriant, should have, every autumn, a moderate top dressing 

 of manure, to keep them in good condition. This, as it pro- 

 motes steady and regular growth, is far preferable to occasional 

 heavy manuring, which, as will presently be shown, has a ten- 

 dency to induce the worst form of blight to which this tree is 

 subject. 



Diseases. As a drawback to the, otherwise, easy cultivation 

 of this fine fruit, the pear tree is, unfortunately, liable to a very 

 serious disease, called the ^:>rar tree Might, or fire blight, appear- 

 ing irregularly, and in all parts of the country ; sometimes in 

 succeeding seasons, and, again, only after a lapse of several 

 years ; attacking, sometimes, only the extremities of the limbs, 

 and, at other times, destroying the whole tree ; producing, occa- 

 sionally, little damage to a few branches, but often, also, destroy- 

 ing, in a day or two, an entire large tree; this disease has been, 

 at diflferent times, the terror and despair of pear growers. Some 

 parts of the country have been nearly free from it, while others 

 have suflfered so much as almost to deter persons from extend- 

 ing the cultivation of this fine fruit. For nearly an hundred 

 years, its existence has been remarked in this country, and, 

 until very lately, all notions of its character and origin have 

 been so vague, as to lead to little practical assistance in remov- 

 ing or remedying the evil. 



Careful observation for several years past, and repeated com- 

 parison of facts with accurate observers, in various parts of the 

 country, have led us to the following conclusions : 



1st. That what is popularly called the pear blight, is, in fact, 

 two distinct diseases. 27id. That one of these is caused by an 

 insect, and the other by sudden freezing and thawing of the sap 

 in unfavourable autumns. The first, we shall therefore call the 

 iyisect blight, and the second, \kt frozen-sap blight. 



1. The insect blight. The symptoms of the insect blight 

 are as follows : In the month of June or July, when the tree is 

 in full luxuriance of growth, shoots at the extremities of the 

 branches, and often extending down two seasons' growth, are 



