REPORT OF THE APPLE AND PEAR CONFERENCE. 



41 



through inanition. The same gardeners who leave their fruit 

 trees unfed would think it most unreasonable to expect them to 

 grow their crops of vegetables without manure. 



The fourth paragraph is, "or the variety is very old or very 

 dehcate." This raises the much-vexed question whether a 

 seminal plant has a finite life, or one which can be prolonged 

 indefinitely by propagation. Experience seems to prove that 

 individual life has a limit, though there is evidence that many 

 seminal plants have a very prolonged existence ; however, the 

 limits of this paper do not allow the present discussion of the 

 question. It may be sufficient to say that observation does not 

 lead me to believe that the age or delicacy of a variety renders 

 it more liable to canker when the soil contains what it requires. 



The fifth paragraph suggests " that the soil is not sufficiently 

 drained." Canker, according to my observation, occurs equally 

 on well-drained as on ill-drained soils ; it is not a question of 

 condition of roots. My own garden formerly contained several 

 trees rapidly succumbing to canker, which, wdien grafted v/ith 

 other varieties, at once put on healthy growth, made fine heads, 

 and have since for many years been perfectly free from the 

 disease. Each variety requires its own appropriate food ; straw- 

 berries afford a very good illustration of this. I have among my 

 friends the reputation of growing this fruit to perfection, yet I 

 had the greatest difficulty in finding varieties which w^ould do 

 fairly in my soil, and after trial of many more than a hundred, 

 have so far discovered only about half a dozen which are 

 moderately successful. British Queen refused to fruit ; Dr. 

 Hogg bore fairly as an annual, but did not survive to the second 

 season ; in fact, all the Queen race and many other kinds only 

 do more or less ill. Such being the case, it is not unreasonable 

 to believe that some varieties of fruit trees find in some soils 

 what they require, while others do not, and in consequence 

 become subject to canker. 



The sixth paragraph is, "or it (the soil) may be too poor." 

 I quite agree with this, as I believe a deficiency in the soil of the 

 necessary food of the tree is the cause of canker. 



Seventhly, " The wood may be weak, and is not well ripened, 

 when a sudden frost, especially after rain, ruptures the vessels, 

 and this forms the chief cause of canker." Unripe wood, which 

 is, however, often the result of imperfect nutrition, is productive 

 of much mischief of a temporary nature ; but as canker attacks 

 well-matured wood, I cannot believe it to be in any case its cause, 

 although when its real cause is at work it may appear on such 

 wood. 



In the eighth paragraph the author repeats himself. " Any 

 direct injury, however, to the bark of a tree, as from friction of 

 one branch upon another, the pressure of a clothes line tied from 

 tree to tree, or injury from a ladder in fruit gathering, may all 



