THE PEAR. 4l7 



the pear is always liable to make late second growths, and its 

 wood will often be caught iinripened by an early winter. For 

 this reason, this form of blight is vastly more extensive and des- 

 tructive in the deep, rich soils of the western states, than in the 

 dryer and poorer soils of the east, And this will always be the 

 case in over rich soils, unless the trees are planted on raised 

 hillocks, or their luxuriance checked by root-pruning. 



Again, those varieties of the pear, which have the habit of 

 'maturing their wood early, are very rarely affected with the fro- 

 zen-sap blight. But late growing sorts are always more or less 

 liable to it, especially when the trees are young, and the exces- 

 sive growth is not reduced by fruit-bearing. Every nursery- 

 man knows that there are certain late growing sorts which are 

 always more liable to this blight in the nursery. Among these 

 we have particularly noticed the Passe Cohnar and the Forelle, 

 though when these sorts become bearing trees, they are not 

 more liable than many others. The Seckel pear is celebrated 

 for its general freedom from blight, which we attribute entirely 

 to its habit of making short jointed shoots, and ripening its 

 wood very early. 



To distinguish the blight of the frozen-sap from that caused 

 by the attack of the Scylotus pyri, is not difficult. The effects 

 of the latter cease below the spot where the insect has perforat- 

 ed and eaten its burrow in the branch. The former spreads 

 gradually down the branch, which, when dissected, shows the 

 marks of the poison in the discoloration of the inner bark and 

 the pith, extending down some distance below the external 

 marks of injury. If the poison becomes largely diffused in the 

 tree, it will sometimes die outright in a day or two ; but if it is 

 only slightly present, it will often entirely recover. The pre- 

 sence of black, dry, shrivelled spots of bark on the branches, or 

 soft sappy spots, as well as the appearance of thick clammy sap 

 in winter or spring pruning, are the infallible signs of the frozen- 

 sap blight. 



The most successful remedies for this disastrous blight, it is 

 very evident, are chiefly preventive ones. It is, of course, im- 

 possible for us to avoid the occasional occurrence of rainy, warm 

 autumns, which have a tendency to urge the trees into late 

 second growth. The principal means of escaping the danger 

 really lies in always studiously avoiding a damp soil for the 

 fruit tree. Very level or hollow surfaces, where heavy early 

 autumnal rains are apt to lie and saturate the ground, should 

 also be shunned. And any summer top dressing or enriching 

 calculated to stimulate the tree into late growth, is pernicious. 

 A rich, dry soil, is, on the whole, the best, because there the 

 tree will make a good growth in time to ripen fully its wood, 

 and will not be likely to make second growth. A rich, moist 

 soil, will, on the contrary, serve continually to stimulate the 



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