398 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
“FIKE BLIGHT.” 
BY J. C. PLUMB, MILTON. 
This living phantom, and dreaded scourge of the pear and apple, 
has long been under the veil of mystery, and it may seem to 
some, rude to lay hands upon it; this veil and the prevailing theory 
of its origin and progress. 
But the interest of the western fruit grower is so deeply in¬ 
volved, that a careful search for causes and remedy is imperatively 
0 
demanded, and if we may but throw some light upon the nature 
of a disease so obscure as this, we may go further and dig deeper 
for full light and knowledge of cause and effect. I know 
I speak the feeling of many of my brother fruit growers, when I 
say the progress of this disease presents a seemingly malicious 
and apparently needless destruction of our most cherished speci¬ 
men trees, robbing us of them when we are anticipating the de¬ 
velopment of luscious fruit, and rejoicing in their increasing 
strength and quiet shade; not going like ripe sheaves in the glory 
of fruition, but like Jonas’ gourd, in the hour of his greatest need, 
and by an unseen enemy. 
In reviewing the reports of investigating committees, and the 
deductions of men of science (more or less) that have come to my 
notice in the last twenty years, I find so little agreement in their 
conclusions, that were I to take their testimony, I should be left 
in a mist of uncertainty. But a careful compariso n of theories 
and observations leads to the belief that the origin and nature of 
the disease is not so obscure as we have been taught by most of 
the writers upon this subject. 
Fire Blight may be recognized by a sudden discoloration of 
some portion of foliage or bark of the young wood, generally of the 
present year’s growth, but often extending to two or three years’ 
old wood, and in extreme cases, to the whole tree, or to large por¬ 
tions of it. These affected parts suddenly change color, turn 
brown and wither in a day, as if some scorching blast had passed 
through the tree. To the casual observer, the first indication is a 
withering branch or twig; but more careful observation shows the 
