398 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 7 
THE BODY BLIGHT OF PEAR TREES. 
The appearance of trees diseased with body blight 
is so well shown in Fig. 156 that but little description 
will be necessary. The gross characters are best seen 
on smooth trunks or branches that are not old enough 
to form rough bark; here sunken areas occur in the 
outer bark that are more or less circular in form and 
definitely outlined. The disease first appears in the 
form of small patches of discolored bark, which en¬ 
large until midsummer. A definite boundary is then 
formed between the dead and living bark, caused by 
the shrinking of the dead tissues. If the diseased part 
is examined it will be found in the majority of cases 
that the injury does not extend to the cambium, and 
before the dead bark becomes dry and hard it can be 
removed easily in one piece, leaving a clean and 
smoothly-outlined scar. In a majority of cases the 
disease spreads during the following years from the 
old injuries, until in aggravated cases much of the 
surface of the trunk and larger limbs is covered with 
dead outer bark; this bark becomes dry and very 
hard, thus causing a bark-bound condition which ma¬ 
terially checks the growth of the tree. Some experi¬ 
menters have advanced the idea that the disease is 
due to a form of twig blight. They point to dead 
twigs that are surrounded at the base by patches of 
body blight. But live twigs may also be found which 
are surrounded at the base by areas of body blight. 
A simple experiment will prove the fallacy of this 
theory. By inoculating with the gummy exudation 
from a small tree which was dying with twig blight 
the writer was able to kill large limbs on a pear tree 
in a single season. Yet this tree had been affected 
with body blight for years. Moreover, this disease is 
common in sections of the West where twig blight 
has not yet appeared. Finally, the two diseases are 
quite different in their manner of growth, body blight 
being a disease of the outer bark, while twig blight 
is preeminently a disease of the cambium. Other ex¬ 
periment station men have maintained that all body 
blight is due to the Apple-tree canker fungus, and 
have given it the name of Pear canker. It is true 
that the canker fungus is parasitic on pear trees, and 
it produces an injury to the bark that closely re¬ 
sembles body blight. But this fungus is not con¬ 
stantly associated with the disease, and it is also un¬ 
known in many sections of the West where body 
bligjit is abundant. 
It is well-known that our standard fungicide, Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture, is useless as a preventive of body 
blight. The disease is as abundant on trees that have 
been drenched with the mixture till they are blue all 
Summer, as it is on unsprayed trees. It is evident 
that a cure for blighted trees must consist in a prac¬ 
tical method of removing the dead bark, thereby re¬ 
lieving the bark-bound condition. This can be done 
by a corrosive wash, or by mechanical means. The 
pear trees in the experiment station orchards were 
nearly all attacked by body blight, many of them be¬ 
ing seriously injured. It was originally planned to 
wash part of the trees with the mixture given below. 
In another part of the orchard, all of the diseased 
bark was to be scraped from the trees. A third lot 
of trees were to be both scraped and washed, and a 
fourth section of the orchard was to be left untreated, 
to serve as a check on the work. Through an over¬ 
sight at the time the work was done, all of the treat¬ 
ed trees were both scraped and washed. A tool known 
as a box scraper was used in scraping. This con¬ 
sists of a triangular steel blade which is.fastened at 
its center to a short handle. When the work was 
completed the orchard looked as though it had been 
subjected to severe treatment, as most of the outer 
bark on the trunks of many of the trees was removed, 
leaving the light-colored inner layers exposed. A 
number of orchardists expressed the opinion that the 
treatment would ruin the trees. The trunks and larg¬ 
er limbs were next washed with the following mix¬ 
ture: Whale-oil soap, one pint; fresh slaked lime, 
three pints; copper sulphate, two-thirds pound; water, 
four gallons; wood ashes to thicken as desired. The 
soap was dissolved in hot water, then diluted to the 
required four gallons, after which the lime and dis¬ 
solved copper sulphate were added. The ashes were 
then stirred into the mixture until it was of a con¬ 
sistency to spread satisfactorily with a brush. The 
work was done in the latter part of May, at least two 
weeks before the disease began to show signs of ac¬ 
tivity. In many instances the diseased bark was not 
thoroughly removed by the workman, and some of the 
diseased areas were overlooked; but as the washing 
was done thoroughly, the diseased bark that was un¬ 
intentionally allowed to remain, served the purpose 
of showing the effects of the wash. 
That season the disease began to show signs of 
growth about June 10, and it was soon noticed that 
it was spreading from the diseased bark that had 
been covered with the mixture. This feature of the 
experiment was watched closely, and at the end of 
the season the conclusion was reached that the wash 
has been of little or no benefit as a cure for the dis¬ 
ease. On the other hand, where the dead and diseased 
bark had been removed thoroughly, the treatment 
was entirely successful; new bark was formed in 
place of that which had been removed and the trees 
were in a vigorous, healthy condition at the close of 
the season. There is no doubt as to the effectiveness 
of removing the dead and diseased bark as a cure for 
the body blight of pear trees, provided the treatment 
is undertaken before the tree is past recovery. It now 
remains to be seen whether or not the remedy is prac¬ 
tical. If taken in time the removing of the blighted 
bark will be a small task, and the trees can be kept 
free from the disease at slight expense. With badly 
affected trees and especially where the disease has 
advanced to the larger limbs, as shown in Fig. 156, 
the cost of the treatment must be considered. Whether 
it will pay or not can only be decided by the grower. 
In some localities the disease, while present, has not 
done serious damage, but when the trees become bark- 
bound, as they frequently do, their normal activity is 
greatly interfered with. This condition must be re¬ 
lieved before the tree will be at its best, and in some 
instances the production of paying crops depends on 
a cure for blighted trees. When the cause of body 
blight has been determined, a method of preventing 
its spread may be discovered, and the cure for dis¬ 
eased trees may be much simplified. But in the light 
of our present knowledge, the treatment may be 
summed up as follows: Remove all the blighted bark 
from the trees when the period of active growth be¬ 
gins; this will usually be in the latter part of May. 
Any suitable tool may be used for the purpose, but 
a box scraper is recommended. The work must be done 
carefully, and great pains should be taken not to in¬ 
jure the cambium during the operation. 
Colorado Experiment Station. w. paddock. 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
How long do hens need to be mated before their eggs 
become fertile? Are Rose Comb White Leghorns as 
good as Single Combs? j. h. b. 
Prescott, Ariz. 
POULTRY WISDOM.—I have never experimented 
for myself as to the time required for eggs to be ferti¬ 
lized, but from the work of others along this line, 
coupled with my own observations, I judge that three 
days is a safe rule, if the hen is already laying, and 
you simply wish to be sure of fertility. If she has 
been previously mated with another male, and you 
wish to make sure of avoiding his progeny, then 
I should want to allow more time, say two weeks. I 
cannot speak of the Rose Comb White Leghonrs from 
experience, but I know of no reason why they are not 
as good as the Single Combs. Up to the present stage 
of development of the science of poultry keeping, 
much more depends on feed and care than upon breed. 
There is a good deal of uncertainty and guesswork 
about the profit and efficiency of any breed. When 
we have mastered some of the problems that are still 
unsolved, we can begin to study more carefully the 
individuality of single birds, and breed only from the 
very best. I judge that a little more attention has al¬ 
ready been paid to developing the Single Cqink White 
Leghorn breed into improved egg machines than to 
almost any other breed. Aside from this, I see no rea¬ 
son why they are in any way superior to the Rose 
Comb variety. 
SKIM-MILK FOR PIGS.—A reader of The R. N.-Y. 
writes that he is very much interested in my pig that 
is balancing his own ration from corn and sltim-milk, 
but that it is rather unfair for those who cannot get 
a supply of skim-milk. I am not ready to admit that 
any farmer who can raise grass or silage cannot have 
a supply of milk if he so wills. The cow is the great 
machine for turning such coarse feeds into the more 
digestible and nutritious forms of food. No more ex¬ 
cuse for a farmer to be without a machine to turn his 
coarse fodder and grain into milk and butter, than 
for him to be without a machine to cut his hay or 
grain, provided he can make it profitable. If. after he 
has removed the cream, and turned it into cash, he 
can use still another machine to turn the skim-milk 
into the more salable form of pork, eggs or poultry 
flesh, why should he not have it? The pig referred 
to is still thriving. At the end of the second week 
(May 23) he weighs 46 pounds, having made a gain of 
13 pounds in a week, almost two pounds a day. I have 
not weighed the feed used, but feel certain that he 
has not eaten to exceed a peck of corn, and 100 pounds 
of skim-milk. At market rates, this is worth about 
35 cents, allowing 80 cents per bushel for corn and 15 
cents per 100 pounds for milk. After running it 
through my machine, it comes out worth 90 cents, 
with live pork quoted at $7 per 100. In order now to 
make the experiment of some practical value, I shall 
hereafter carefully weigh or measure all the corn and 
milk which he consumes. I have also placed one of 
his mates in another pen by herself, and shall give 
her no milk, while keeping careful record of food 
consumed and growth made. I do not expect her to 
grow as fast as the pig that has milk, but wish to see 
which will make a pound of growth the cheaper. She 
had been placed in a pen of larger pigs, who have not 
been fed very liberally for the first two weeks, and 
only weighed 33 pounds May 23, although she was 
fully the equal of Billy Gormand two weeks ago, when 
they were weaned. 
FERTILIZER PROBLEMS.—Is the hen manure 
more valuable than that of cow or horse, and if so, 
why? That depends a good deal, I think, upon what 
plant you wish to feed. In the case of grass (mostly 
Timothy) the answer is written on some of my fields 
by the plants themselves, in characters that can be 
read as far as the fields can be seen. One field of four 
acres received a light dressing of hen manure in 
March. This consisted of the litter removed from the 
floors at the close of the Winter, which had been 
quite plentifully soiled with droppings. The grass on 
this field is >'f a dark rich green, very thick and rank, 
promising to lodge badly if we have much wet weath¬ 
er. Just over the fence is another field of similar 
soil and seed, which received a good top dressing of 
stable manure (cow and horse manure mixed) during 
the Winter. In spite of this the grass is of poor color, 
and has a generally starved appearance. What is 
lacking in the stable manure which is supplied in the 
hen manure? The first thought is nitrogen. In order 
to test the matter I took a little nitrate of soda about 
May 1 and sowed three strips across the field, diverg¬ 
ing from the gate at the foot of the field, like the 
spokes of a wagon wheel. Those strips are now visi- 
ible, like ribbons of dark green velvet, from the high¬ 
way a half-mile away. Between two of the spokes I 
wrote my own initials O. W. M. on the hillside. These 
letters can also be plainly read from the highway, 
even to the periods after each letter, and cause not a 
little comment and wonder on the part of travelers. 
The object lesson is complete. Those fields need more 
nitrogen, in order to raise a good crop of Timothy, 
and the hen manure supplies it better than stable ma¬ 
nure. When I was a boy I used to wonder what made 
those bunches of dark green grass in my father’s 
meadows. I know now that they were caused by the 
nitrogen in the urine of his cows and horses. They 
were never more distinctly marked, than is the effect 
of the nitrogen supplied the plants in the strips and 
letters referred to by the nitrate of soda. When we 
reflect that poultry droppings contain all the nitrogen 
excreted without any liquid to be easily lost, we can 
readily understand why poultry droppings are richer 
than stable manure. o. w. hades. 
POTATO BUGS AND GREATER EVILS.—I lived 
in Crawford County, Kan., 26 years, 11 years on 
a farm. During that time I never saw a Potato beetle. 
I went from there to Pulton County, Illinois, and was 
there two years. While there I fought Potato beetles. 
This is the third season that I have been in Neosho 
County, Kan., adjoining Crawford County on the west. 
Have seen a few beetles here on what are called Bull 
nettles and also Texas nettles, but not on potatoes. As 
to greater evil, well, will admit that Kansas (politically) 
was on the hog train for a while, but all is well now. 
Chanute, Kan. d. f. d. 
