FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
53 
he could make more money in Florida than he could in Cali¬ 
fornia. He thinks that the opportunity we have to get fruit 
through to the markets in from two to four days gives us & 
great advantage over California, where it takes from five to 
twelve days to reach markets. I had a talk several times 
with him over the matter of blight. His impression is that we 
are free from the blight from the fact that we have agreatdeal 
of iron and sulphur in our soil. To the west of us sixty miles 
they have the blight but we do not have it. I am hnder the 
constant dread of its attacking us in the future. I am going 
to meet it, and with this idea I have investigated the blight 
where it has occurred In this state and in South Georgia. If 
a man will attend to his grove immediately after it is attacked 
and cut out that portion which is blighted and then use the 
Bordeaux Mixture, I believe his orchard will not be damaged,. 
I went through De Funiak last June and I looked at the 
groves, and where I found the blight I found the men had let 
it take its course. I fou-id good groves that had no blight, 
but they had been carefully attended to. Mr. Dubose has a 
grove of pear trees that was reported to have been attacked 
severely, although attended to promptly and sprayed with 
Bordeaux Mixture. I looked at his grove, and when we got 
within fifty yards of the orchard I said: “You have no blight”. 
There was no appearance of blight whatever. He said: “Wait 
a little.” We then proceeded to the orchard and found the 
ground covered all over with ends and points of limbs that he 
had cut off from those trees; but I found there was no blight 
on the trees and there was a good lot of fruit on them. From 
my experience and observation I have concluded that the 
blight can be controlled if handled properly. I have seen 
orchards that were nearly destroyed by it, both in this state 
and in South Georgia, but I have reached the conclusion that 
if the proper means are taken, using Bordeau Mixture and 
cutting off the limbs, the blight will not materially affect the 
success of pear growing, and this is the course I shall adopt if 
my orchard is attacked. 
As to the cultivation of pears, I think the best trees to plant 
are one year old. I believe that the varieties most suited to 
us are the Le Conte and Keiffer. I do not believe in high 
fertilization. I believe the peach cannot be cultivated too 
rapidly; with the pear this is not the best plan. A small 
amount is sufficient to keep it active in growth, and that is 
all you want. Let it grow so that in eight or nine years it 
makes a good tree. I will give you the positive size of one of 
my trees. A few days ago I took the size exactly. It is one 
of the best trees on my place. It was set out in 1875. It is 
now thirty-one and a half feet high; I measured it with two 
