2IO The Canadian Horticulturist. 



to the cut, it might possibly save our trees ; but alas ! the disease I find 

 is seated below that, and I don't think there is any remedy. The beginning 

 of last month (April) I went and examined my trees, and I found quite a 

 number totally black just where the large branches start from the stock, 

 while the top seemed green and the buds swelling nicely. 



The Flemish Beauty are most affected, I cut down seven large trees of 

 this variety and about half of several others. I have two of Manning's 

 Elizabeth dwarf trees dead, a branch of Souveni de Congress, also 

 tranches of a seedling, and small branches of the Bartlett. 



The fruit of the Flemish Beauty and Manning's Elizabeth seemed to 

 escape the severe frost last year the best of any, but the blight took in them 

 the worst. In my opinion it was the frost of the nights of the 22nd and 

 28th of last May that caused this blight ; before that we had very fine open 

 weather. I find it a very great loss on the whole ; last year almost 

 all our fruit destroyed and now so many of our pear trees gone. I have 

 trees with stocks from five to eight inches in diameter, with tops over 

 twenty feet in diameter totally gone, and I don't doubt but a good many 

 others will die. 



The Vergennes Grape received last year got cut off as well as the others, 

 but it sprouted again, and now I see it is looking pretty well, but small. 



The fruit prospects for this year seem to be very good, the cherry, pear 

 and plum are heavily loaded with blossom buds. Apples don't appear to be 

 so thick on some varieties. We have had a very fine Spring, I hope our 

 fruits will not suffer this season. 



Goderich. WALTER HICK. 



Note by Editor.— This mysterious disease, the pear blight, was very 

 destructive last season, especially on some varieties. The Duchess dwarf 

 suffered exceedingly, and even the Bartlett lost much wood. This variety 

 has one advantage over others however, in that it is usually affected in the 

 branches and not in the trunk, and when cut back below the discoloration, 

 will produce fresh growth and a new tree in a short time. The Flemish 

 Beauty, the Osband's Summer and the Vicar act differently, and often blight 

 in the trunk, and if much cultivated soon blight to death. At Maplehurst, 

 Bartletts planted twenty-five years ago are still thrifty, but not a Flemish 

 Beauty or Osband's Summer of that age, unless where grown in sod. 



We do not think the frost cau-sed the blight, for it is often quite severe 

 without any such cause. Indeed it has been plainly shown by scientists 

 that a small microscopic organism or microbe, which is far too small to be 

 seen with the naked eye, is the real cause of this disease. These microbes 

 are easily carried about in the atmosphere, and finding entrance through 

 the stomata of the leaves into the juices of the tree, where they soon cause 

 disease and death. 



