106 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
an even growth of scion and stock; if 
budded in the ordinary way the result is 
unsatisfactory. 
PEAR. 
Though it responds to care and culti¬ 
vation, the pear may be planted where 
trampling about it packs the earth, and 
little or no cultivation can be given. It 
should be watched for dying back of the 
branches, due to blight. This disease 
starts at or near the tips of the branches 
and progresses downward. Cutting off 
the affected branches into the new wood 
ahead of it is the best remedy. This 
should be done promptly every time signs 
of it are seen, and the diseased branches 
burned. 
FIGS. 
Figs are sometimes disappointing when 
grown under orchard conditions, though 
they need not be if their characteristics 
and needs are given proper consideration. 
They root close to the surface, are gross 
feeders, and require much moisture. 
In planting about the home they do 
best when so placed that their roots may 
run under buildings, piles of wood or 
rock. With a little thought they may 
be so placed as to screen unattractive ob¬ 
jects, or round out angularities in the 
grounds. In such situations they thrive 
remarkably well and bear quantities of 
choice fruit. 
One may start his own plants of figs 
quite easily from cuttings. They should 
be made from the branches of strong, 
healthy trees. The suckers which spring 
up about the base of the old plants should 
not be used. These cuttings should be 
made ten to twelve inches long, the cuts 
at the lower end so made as to expose the 
hard wood of the partition at the node, 
and not the pith. They may be set in 
place where the plants are to remain per¬ 
manently, and should be buried about 
two-thirds of their length. They are best 
made during the winter. There are sev¬ 
eral varieties that do well here, as the 
Brunswick, Brown Turkey, Ischia, etc., 
but the most reliable and satisfactory is 
the Celestial, or sugar fig. 
DECIDUOUS FRUITS. 
C. M. Griffing 
Did you ever undertake to talk to a 
person or a group of people about some¬ 
thing in which they were not interested? 
Rather an uphill pull, isn’t it? No one 
realizes more than your committee that 
to the majority of the members of this 
society only citrus culture appeals. It is 
well that it should take first place, 
as it is our staple fruit crop. Of all the 
crops that grow in Florida, citrus fruit 
culture is most widely advertised by the 
promoter and land companies. The gold¬ 
en balls are dangled before the eyes of 
the prospective investor and settler, until 
his vision is a maze of golden globes 
from which he imagines he sees streams 
