199 



Starting from this point, we find that the Blight 

 shows itself more abundant after heavy rains, fol- 

 lowing a protracted drought, or in the early spring, 

 and again at the flow of the so-called second sap. 

 The theory is, that a rain highly charged with nu- 

 tritive gases and readily absorbed by the plants^ 

 (having had a moderate supply of nutriment for a 

 protracted time) must have the inevitable effect of 

 suddenly filling the utricules with a greater supply 

 of sap than they are able to contain ; this creates 

 rapture and inward extravasation and is a hemor- 

 rhage of the vegetable blood, i. e. sap, and at once 

 brings death to the plant or part of the plant where 

 the accident happens. 



This hemorrhage may take place over the whole 

 cellular tissue, or be only partial, and occasions the 

 whole or partial destructi n of the plant. This ef- 

 fect is caused, also, for the same reason, when a 

 vegetable gets its sap in circulation after being in a 

 state of lethargy for a long time, either in the 

 spring or duiing the growing season. This is com- 

 monly called Blight. Blight already marked can- 

 not be cured, but it may be modified or its further 

 progress arrested. If we examine closely the affec- 

 ted trees, we will find that many of their branches 

 are of a uniform thickness for a considerable length, 

 and often thicker at the upper end than at the 

 base, this is owing to what in gardener's language, 

 is knovfn as bark bound, those are the places where 

 blight will in most cases, appear; the cellular tis- 

 sue in these places is compressed and inadequate to 

 contain and transmit the sap necessary to the nor- 

 mal functions of the tree. Now, to prevent blight 

 in those places give a longitudinal cut so as to di- 

 vide the bark of the limb of the tree, this at once 

 remedies the evil, the utricules are released of com- 

 pression and can perform their functions at ease. 

 Trees thus treated have invariably shown health 

 and vigor, where before that simple operation they 

 were drooping and vegetating slowly, showing that 

 it is not 0 dy a preventive of blight, but a source of 

 renovating and giving new life to a tree by causing 

 the sap to flow in unobstructed channels. 



Blight is most always an indication of decay in 

 the variety affected. Such pears as Bartlett, Belle de 

 Bruxelles, White Doyenne, ect., having been exten- 

 sively and long propagated, have deteriorated in 

 vigor by constant working upon stocks often having 

 no affinity with the graft and from other causes, 

 have attained a state of debility. 



This is the more apparent, the farther they recede 

 from the first propagated trees of those varieties. 

 The blight shows itself by the partial or entire al- 

 teration of the color of the leaves ; when it is slow 



blight, that indication is sufficiently in time to apply 

 the remedy, but in cases of sudden blight, the bark 

 is often struck past remedy before the leaves show 

 the disease at a distance. 



The immediate causes of Blight seems to be 



Unhealthy condition of the tree, brought on by 

 transportation, bad management, decay of variety, 

 as above stated, or by the following more local 

 causes : Bad or improper soil, too much moisture^ 

 sudden variations of the temperature and incompat^ 

 ihility of grafts with some stocks. 



The interior decay shows itself long in advance 

 and by preparing the blight slowly, affords time for 

 prevention. The immediate removal of all diseased 

 wood is iherefore of the utmost importance. 



Nature often has her own way to split or burst 

 the bark to give vent to the superabundant sap, 

 but that process if left alone to her, and unaided by 

 the knife, is often performed in a rough, irregular 

 waj^, and the tree is much relieved in finding' a 

 ready made exodus for superabundant sap. Filling 

 up a split is much more easy for the tree, than 

 opening a valve which must be healed again, and in 

 many cases is to hard t30 yield readily to Nature's 

 efforts." 



Since writing the foregoitig remarks, several years 

 have gone by, during which I have bad ample op'- 

 portunity to prove practically that my theory of 

 blight was not too hazardous in substantiation. I 

 have the gratification to see every tree, which has 

 been liberally incised from trunk to limb, in a flour- 

 ishing condition, and those trees which were not 

 treated in this manner are in many instances pre- 

 eminent by their vacant spaces in the orchard. 



Fungus may be a cause of Blight, but my obser- 

 vations are that it is always brought after the blight, 

 as nature will always bring forth destroying para- 

 sites as soon as life is extinct in a plant. I confess, 

 although close my observations have been, never 

 having observed any Fungi before the appearance 

 of blight, but often afterwards. 



ONS OF THU ROADS TO HAPPINESS. 



BY "let well enough ALONE." 



We don't know how rich we are ; we don't know 

 how happy we are, until we look below us. There 

 we are quite sure of finding an almost infinite varie- 

 ty of degrees leading from less wealth and less hap- 

 piness than ours, down to positive calamity and 

 absolute poverty. And— alas for poor humanity — 

 the knowledge of this makes us feel happy, and 

 wealthy, and contented with our lot. 



These thoughts, almost the exordium of a ser- 

 mon, occurred to us in reading in the German Hor- 



