New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 1438 
cases of imperfect fertilization the pit is abnormally small and 
has no kernel, or at least only a partially developed one. This 
difference will enable anyone to distinguish readily between the 
two troubles. 
V. At Milton, N. Y., the tile drain to a vinegar cellar was 
clogged by a luxuriant growth of the fungus Leptomitus lacteus. 
The obstruction was easily and effectually removed by placing a 
small quantity of copper sulphate crystals in the upper end of 
the drain. 
Vi. Drain pipes to refrigerators frequently become clogged 
with a slimy, gray growth of fungus which has its origin in the 
ice, but is not an accumulation of matter from the ice. It may 
be easily controlled by occasionally washing out the drain pipe 
and ice chamber with boiling water. 
I. TROUBLE WITH PEARS IN A NURSERY CELLLAR. 
In March of the present year the Station received a letter from 
a Rochester nurseryman requesting that an expert be sent to his 
place to inquire into the cause of a serious trouble among the 
pear trees in his nursery cellar. One of the writers of this arti- 
cle was sent to investigate. It was found that 25,000 three-year 
old standard pear trees had been tied into bundles of ten to fif- 
teen trees each and placed in the nursery cellar in an upright 
_ position. The bundles of trees were set in rows and the roots 
covered with sand, after the usual custom in such cases. The 
bark on the trunks and branches of the trees was of normal color 
and apparently all right up to a height of about three and one- 
half feet, but above this point the bark was black, and many of 
the branches were evidently dead. This condition prevailed 
throughout the cellar in a strikingly uniform manner. All parts 
of the trees below three and one-half feet were healthy and all 
parts above that point blackened. This blackening of the 
branches was suggestive of the bacterial fire blight and the 
owner was fearful that it might be an outbreak of that disease. 
Observing that a fire had been built in the cellar, suspicion at 
once pointed in that direction, and after an inquiry into all the 
