412 
THE PEAR. 
The pear succeeds so well as an open standard, and require! 
so little care for pruning — less, indeed, in the latter respect, 
than any other fruit tree, that training is seldom thought of, 
except in the gardens of the curious or skilful. The system of 
quenouille or distaff training, an interesting mode of rendering 
trees very productive in a small space, we have already fully de- 
scribed in p. 37, as well as root pruning for the same purpose 
in p. 32. 
In orchard culture, the pear is usually planted about thirty 
feet distant each way ; in fruit gardens, where the heads are 
somewhat kept in by pruning, twenty feet is considered suffi- 
cient by many. 
Pear trees, in a bearing state, where the growth is no longer 
luxuriant, should have, every autumn, a moderate top dressing 
of manure, to keep them in good condition. This, as it pro- 
motes steady and regular growth, is far preferable to occasional 
heavy manuring, which, as will presently be shown, has a ten- 
dency to induce the worst form of blight to which this tree is 
subject. 
Diseases. As a drawback to the, otherwise, easy cultivation 
of this fine fruit, the pear tree is, unfortunately, liable to a very 
serious disease, called the pear tree blight , or fire blight , appear- 
ing irregularly, and in all parts of the country ; sometimes in 
succeeding seasons, and, again, only after a lapse of several 
years ; attacking, sometimes, only the extremities of the limbs, 
and, at other times, destroying the whole tree ; producing, occa- 
sionally, little damage to a few branches, but often, also, destroy- 
ing, in a day or two, an entire large tree; this disease has been, 
at different times, the terror and despair of pear growers. Some 
parts of the country have been nearly free from it, while others 
have suffered so much as almost to deter persons from extend- 
ing the cultivation of this fine fruit. For nearly an hundred 
years, its existence has been remarked in this country, and, 
until very lately, all notions of its character and origin have 
been so vague, as to lead to little practical assistance in remov- 
ing or remedying the evil. 
Careful observation for several years past, and repeated com- 
parison of facts with accurate observers, in various parts of the 
country, have led us to the following conclusions : 
ls£. That what is popularly called the pear blight, is, in fact, 
two distinct diseases. 2nd. That one of these is caused by an 
insect, and the other by sudden freezing and thawing of the sap 
in unfavourable autumns. The first, we shall therefore call the 
insect blight , and the second, the f rozen-sap blight. 
1. The insect blight. The symptoms of the insect blight 
are as follows : In the month of June or July, when the tree is 
in full luxuriance of growth, shoots at the extremities of the 
branches, and often extending down two seasons’ growth, are 
