August, 1890. 
143 
'ORCHARD 
o Arden \ 
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I have twelve seedlings extra large strung 
plants now that were grown last season 
from a berry that ripened a month after the 
other strawberries were gone— a staminate 
at that — and from which I might have ex- 
pected something like the present; hut the 
foliage of them is all so different that they 
cannot be alike in fruit. A few of the plants 
have some pretty berries, but they must bear 
another season to show well. Runners are 
kept off, and now, July 14tli, a half bushel 
will not cover some of the stools. No. 1 
berries sold in the market where I usually 
sell mine for six cents per quart, so I shipped 
none. But to have plenty of fruit for one's 
own family is a great thing indeed. 
Just now there are si ill a few strawberries, 
raspberries and blackberries, and apples in 
abundance. We have no doctor’s bills to 
pay, which I believe may be attributed to 
our free use of good, ripe fruit. — S. Miller. 
Timely ft* * minders. 
Fill up vacancies in the strawberry rows 
with young plants taken up, when well 
rooted, with a trowelful of soil adhering to 
the roots. 
This may also he done with young sucker 
plants of raspberries and blackberries, a wet 
day being chosen for the work. 
Pinch off the tips of the new canes of 
blackberries and raspberries when they 
reach a height of from three to four feet, 
and thus render them stocky and sturdy. 
Keep the strawberry plantations clean 
and worked thoroughly, narrowing the cul- 
tivator as the runners increase. 
When they have ceased bearing cut out 
the old bearing canes of raspberries and 
blackberries, and carry them off the patch. 
There is no good reason for leaving them 
untrimmed and their removal not only gives 
a tidy appearance to the patch but relieves 
the roots of a drain upon them. 
It is a simple matter to grow one’s own 
potted strawberry plants. Take two and a 
half or three-inch pots and set them in the 
soil, even with the surface, alongside the 
old plants. Layer the young plants in the 
pots of soil, securing them with a stone or 
clod of earth. In ten or twelve days of 
favorable weather the pots will be filled 
with roots and the plants may then be set 
where they are to go. In the absence of 
pots small p : eces of inverted sod may be 
used putting them just below the surface. 
This holds the roots well together and per- 
mits their ready removal with soil adhering. 
The young sucker plants in the raspberry 
and blackberry beds should be treated as 
weeds aud remorselessly cut out with the 
hoe, leaving only those necessary to fill 
vacancies and sufficient to make bearing 
canes for next year. Four or five shoots to 
the bill are plenty. If properly pinched 
back they will become so st cky as to need 
no stakes or support. 
Conducted by Prof. F. Lamson-Scribner, 
Director and Botanist, Experiment Station, 
Knoxville, Tennessee. 
Pear Scab. 
A form of the same fungus which causes 
Apple Scab, described in Orchard & Gar- 
den for June, attacks the pear and is equal- 
ly injurious to this fruit. Mr. W. T. Mann, 
of Barkers, N. Y., sends us specimens of 
pears that are badly diseased by tlrs scab 
and he writes that both apples and pears 
are so seriously affected in his locality this 
season that the crop will be almost a total 
failure. 
The weather conditions during May and 
early June — rain nearly every other day and 
repeated late frosts — especially favored the. 
development of the disease. In order to 
show how destructive a pest this apple scab 
fungus may become we take the liberty of 
quoting from Mr. Mann’s letter: “The 
Duchess is the only variety of apple that I 
have that will give even a partial crop. The 
trees of that variety are moderately full of 
fair fruit and the foliage looks fairly well. 
All other varieties in my orchards are a to- 
tal failure and the little fruit now upon the 
trees are similar in appearance to the sam- 
ples sent [very badly affected with scab]. 
The foliage of all trees that blossomed looks 
very badly and the older leaves are now 
dropping from the trees. The growth of 
the last two or three weeks [prior to June 
30th] looks bright and healthy. Of the 
pedrs the only variety that I have which 
will produce even a partial crop is the Bart- 
lett, and the fruit of this variety is all more 
or less blotched with the scab. Clapp’s 
Favorite set a partial crop but the fruit is 
so badly covered with the scab as to be 
worthless. All the other varieties have 
failed completely. The foliage of the pear 
trees looks fully as bad as that of the apple. 
* * * It should be stated, perhaps, that I 
noticed particularly that the embryo fruits 
of the B. D' Anjou pears were black and had 
the appearance of being covered with the 
scab while the blossoms were still bright 
upon the trees and the bees were at work 
upon them. * * * A general opinion among 
fra it growers here is that the electric storm 
cf June 5, which was one of the heaviest 
thunder showers ever known in this locality, 
caused the destruction of the crops. The 
fact that my pear and main apple crops 
were ruined before that storm seems to me 
conclusive that that theory is not sound, 
still I would be glad to learn your opinion 
in regard to the probabilities of such a 
cause. 
The fruit interests of Niagara County are 
very large and any information that you 
can furnish in regard to the cause of our 
losses and especially of practical remedies 
for the cause of these evil conditions will be 
way. 
of vast importance to our fruit growers and 
place them under lasting obligations to you.’’ 
As stated above, the fungus that causes 
Pear Scab is but a form of that which pro- 
duces a similar disease of the apple. It has 
the same habit of growth, produces similar 
effects and may be combated in the same 
Fig. 295 is drawn from one of the 
young pears sent us by Mr. 
Mann. It is badly spotted 
and the fungus has extend- 
ed well along the stem. The 
leaves received were also 
much spotted and occa- 
sionally the parasite was 
growing on the leaf-stalk, 
and also on the young 
shoots. Allowing the leaves 
and fruit to fall or be re- 
moved the fungus still re- 
mains upon the tree on the 
smaller shoots living there 
through the winter ready 
to infest a new crop of 
leaves and fruit the follow- 
ing season. 
Fig. 294 illustr a t e s a 
Scab. small section from a leaf- 
stalk as seen under the microscope. On the 
upper or outer stuff ace there is a strong 
growth of the fungus with many upright 
spore-bearing stalks and several spores. The 
discolorations of the contents of the under- 
lying cells extend to the depth of several 
layers as indicated by the shading within 
the cells. 
Fig. 295. A young 
pear affected by the 
As to the opinion that the electric storm 
of June 5 caused the destruction of the 
crop, Mr. Mann’s statement that his fruit 
was ruined before this storm seems to 
be a sufficient answer. We venture to 
say that the storm did not in any way di- 
rectly injure the crop, although it might 
for a brief period favor the extension or 
propagation of the scab fungus. 
According to the samples of apples and 
pears received from Mr. Mann, and the 
statements made in his communication, the 
cause of the losses complained of is the 
fungus named Fusicladium dendriticum — the 
form upon the pear not being specifically 
distinct. We have so recently given in 
these columns quite full directions for treat- 
ing this disease that it seems hardly neces- 
sary to repeat them here. We would call 
Fig. 294. Section of portion of the leaf stem show- 
ing fungus growth upon the surface. 
attention to the statement made by Mr. Mann 
in which he says that he found embryo pear 
fruits blackened by the fungus before the 
blossoms had withered. It is not safe, there- 
for, to delay spraying until the fruit is set. 
We must begin early in the season. Early 
