THE PEAR. 
4l7 
the pear is always liable to make late second growths, and its 
wood will often be caught unripened by an early winter. For 
this reason, this form of blight is vastly more extensive and des- 
tructive in the deep, rich soils of the western states, than in the 
dryer and poorer soils of the east. And this will always be the 
case in over rich soils, unless the trees are planted on raised 
hillocks, or their luxuriance checked by root-pruning. 
Again, those varieties of the pear, which have the habit 01 
maturing their wood early, are very rarely affected with the fro- 
zen-sap blight. But late growing sorts are always more or less 
liable to it, especially when the trees are young, and the exces- 
sive growth is not reduced by fruit-bearing. Every nursery- 
man knows that there are certain late growing sorts which are 
always more liable to this blight in the nursery. Among these 
we have particularly noticed the Passe Colmar and the Forelle, 
though when these sorts become bearing trees, they are not 
more liable than many others. The Seckel pear is celebrated 
for its general freedom from blight, which we attribute entirely 
to its habit of making short jointed shoots, and ripening its 
wood very early. 
To distinguish the blight of the frozen-sap from that caused 
by the attack of the Scylotus pyri , is not difficult. The effects 
of the latter cease below the spot where the insect has perforat- 
ed and eaten its burrow in the branch. The former spreads 
gradually down the branch, which, when dissected, shows the 
marks of the poison in the discoloration of the inner bark and 
the pith, extending down some distance below the external 
marks of injury. If the poison becomes largely diffused in the 
tree, it will sometimes die outright in a day or two ; but if it is 
only slightly present, it will often entirely recover. The pre- 
sence of black, dry, shrivelled spots of bark on the branches, or 
soft sappy spots, as well as the appearance of thick clammy sap 
in winter or spring pruning, are the infallible signs of the frozen- 
sap blight. 
The most successful remedies for this disastrous blight, it is 
very evident, are chiefly preventive ones. It is, of course, im- 
possible for us to avmd the occasional occurrence of rainy, warm 
autumns, which have a tendency to urge the trees into late 
second growth. The principal means of escaping the danger 
really lies in always studiously avoiding a damp soil for the 
fruit tree. Very level or hollow surfaces, where heavy early 
autumnal, rains are apt to lie and saturate the ground, should 
also be shunned. And any summer top dressing or enriching 
calculated to stimulate the tree into late growth, is pernicious. 
A rich, dry soil, is, on the whole, the best, because there the 
tree will make a good growth in time to ripen fully its wood, 
and will not be likely to make second growth. A rich, moist 
soil, will, on the contrary, serve continually to stimulate tha 
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