!  ,1-1 '*' .    -'^■•t    •     / .*   "
Vol. IX.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 7, 1874.
No. 5.
t
\
Horticultural
W. II. RAGAN,
: CLAYTON, IND.
PEAR BLIGHT.
We give below another one of the essays competing for the $50.00 prize offered
by the Indiana Horticultural Society, at
its lato meeting, on the above subject:
PEAR BLIQIIT—ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.
The causes of pear blight, and the
means of preventing it, at the present
time, are subjects of much interest to horticulturists. These subjects have already
called forth much serious and careful investigation from many of our most skillful
and practical pomologists. Arid still they
remain vexed questions in the minds of
the people generally; and only become
more mysterious as the many theories and
remedies multiply. To me, it is truly em-
barassing to enter upon the discussion of
a subject on which the minds of fruit
growers generally, are so skeptical in reference to finding any true and practical
remedy. I feel that I have not only to
meet this skepticism and prejudice in the
minds of the people, but that I must necessarily occupy ground controverted by
many of our ablest writers and most practical pear growers. My aim, then, in entering upon the discussion of this subject,
is not to exalt myself above my fellows,
but. to,become their servant in presenting
such facts and truths as will benefit thein,
and advance the interests of horticulture
in our State and country. And yet, I feel
confident, even in this short essay, which
must necessarily be brief, that I shall be
able to present the true cause ot fire blight
in the pear, and the best means of preventing it. Right here I fear this prejudice
and skepticism will rise up in the minds'of
many, and they will straighten themselves
back and say: we don't want to hear any-
thing more from one who assumes more
knowledge than all his predecessors. Let.
me ask the favor of such, first, to give me
a candid and impartial hearing, and then
investigate the theory, and weigh the matter carefully, and impartially, and see
whether lam not correct in all mypremises.
Fire blight in the.pear tree is the result of
a deadly poison; and when it first suddenly makes its appearance in the healthy foliage of the tree, while in a vigerous growing conditon, the work is already done;
and there is no remedy, but the branch o.r
- tree withers, dies and blackens in a day.
Pear blight makes its appearance so suddenly and when and where' we so little
look for it, and it does its work so quickly
and thoroughly, that it carries consternation and dread at once into the ranks ■ of
those who cultivate this most valuable and
delicious fruit. Its unhearalded approach
and sudden appearance in a single pear
tree, creates a panic in pear growing circles as general as did the failure of Jay
■Cook & Co. recently in money circles. Its
first withering and blackening touch seen
upon the beautiful and healthy foliage of
the pear tree, is only its death knell, and
a dark foreboding of destruction to the
whole orchard. Under such feelings it is
not strange that the orchardist should rise
from his bed next morning under the influences of this panic, and that he should
go forth with fears and trembling lest he
should see his whole orchard, the labor of
long years, the pride of his life and the
hopes of his future reward, all swept -away
in a single night by thjs deadly pestilence.
It is like cholera, that.much dreaded dis:
ease, which always creates a panic in advance when it visits our country, and
though always confined to a £ew localities
and claiming occasionally a victim here
and there in other places; still it carries
dread and consternation everywhere lest it
should become a general plague through
out the entire land. Consumption may
visit every part.of the country and silently
and gradually carry off its victims by the
thousands, and no one is alarmed.^ We
become accustomed to it, and accept it as a
natural course of nature. So with our
apple, peach, cherry, plum and other
orchards; they may pass away annually by
thousands through the slow and sure pro
icess of the grub, borer, canker worm, or
ijby the rigor of the winter, or any other
►common disease, and we only look upon it
jas a natural consequence, and still con
tinue to plant, and go on without any
alarm. But it is different with the pear
tree, as it has almost always been so freo
from disease, and we have been so long
accustomed to gather annually such fine
crops of j such large, perfect, and delicious
fruit from it, that when a few localities are
visited by blight, and a few solitary trees
are destroyed thereby, once in an age, we
are taken by surprise and alarmed with
fears of general destruction to our entire
pear orchards. No class of fine cultivated
fruit trees has succeeded so well in our
State from its earliest settlement till the
present time, as have many of our best
standard pear trees; and no other class
has yielded so valuable returns and so uniformly fine fruits without injury from disease or insects from year to year. This I
speak from personal knowledge, from
practical experience and a eloseobsena
tality of the flowing sap, which was just
thickening andforming young wood under
the bark, was entirely destroyed. And in
many places on the southwest side of,the
trees, where the sun struck with the
greatest power, they at once turned
dark both on the main trunk and
often on the branches, as though scorched by fire. In these injured places
or dark spots we locate the starting point
or seat of the disease which showed itself
in blight, in the leaves of the tree next
spring and summer. Just about the same
facts were true in the fall of 1843, which
precoeded our first blight in the history of
our State. The cold came on very early,
while the trees were still in a growing state,
and the wood unripe, as in 1869, and then
followed by the same thawing and freezing process, and with the same disastrous
Jesuits    In this condition the tree stood
fluid passes will be found slightly colored
at first, then darker as we pass downward,
till the whole limb becomes dark and
filled with a black poisonous looking matter, till we reach the fountain or cause as
we have before described. If we continue
the cutting process below this we at once
find the wood sound and healthy. By the
same means we can trace the injury from
this locality and see just how far it has infused itself into the tree or how high it has
gone. The injury done between the wood
and bark or to the bark-alone, don't affect
the growth of the tree the first year after it
is received, only as it may create a poison
and be absorbed by the wood. The nourishment that supplies the tree and makes
its leaf and twig growth, is all carried up
from the ground through the pores of the
wood to the extremities of the branches;
and the cimbium 1 irerei betw-.cn the wood
POLAND-CHINA SOW.
tion in the cultivation of fruits and fruit
trees-in Indiana for a period of over forty
years.'-And during all that time,'I don't
think I have lost one tree in athousaridih
•niy'jnursery and in my orchard. '•'!,ha.ve'
b'een"called to witness only the death *6f
'tfiifee'.pear trees by fire blight. ."-It is .true,'
l'"have''not'.been largely in the pear'ra'isibar
business, having only about one hundred
and sixty bearing trees now in my pear
orchard. And during the same period I
have only seen a few orchards in our State
badly • damaged by blight, and this damage
was almost entirely confined to two visitations, with an interval of twenty-six years
from the first to the last. The first of
these' visitations, and the first to my
knowledge that ever was seen in Indiana,
was in 1844, and which in some special localities was very destructive and almost
entirely ruined whole orchards, while in
others, no blight at all appeared. The effects of the blight where it was so bad in
1844, was also seen to some extent in the
summer of 1845. From that time till 1870
it was almost unknown, except in memory
or as a record of history. The blight of
1870, like that of 1844, was also confined
to certain orchards and districts, while
many of the best pear orchards of the
country were passed by without a scorched
or blackened leaf. The causes that.led to
the two can be traced to the same results.
They went into winter quarters too soon,
before they had finished their growth, matured their wood and discharged their
surplus sap. The blight of 1870 is fresh
in the minds of all fruit growers ; and it is
deeply impressed upon the minds of many
of our pear growers. As many will recollect, the month of October, 1869, was very
warm and seasonable, and trees and vegetation were growing rapidly up to the 19th
of the month, when it commenced snowing and freezing, and became very cold
that night; andon the morning of the 20th
the cold was intense, and every thing out
of doors that could be, waa hard frozen;
even the ground was frozen as in mid winter, and the apples, which wero generally
not gathered, were almost entirely destroyed, And the pear trees, of course, with
their full flow of sap, and their tender,
growing and unripe wood, were in the
same frozen condition, and held there for
weeks. This freezing might have injured
the trees but little, if they could have
thawed gradually in the dark or shade
without a repetition of the same. But
early in the morning, cold as it was, the
sun came out bright and with much power,
which it still had at that season of the
year, and soon thawed one side of these
trees while the other remained still frozen.
Thus the trees were thawed by_ day and
frozen by night, day after day, till the vi-
tiHthe next spring, without showing any
visible external signs of injury whatever.
But as the spring came on, and the weather gradually became warm, the sap in these
injured arid darkened spots became sour,
and desolyed that vegetable compound
which was in a gummy state, just forming
the 'young wood of the cambium larger,
whose, vitality had been' destroytd by the
thawing and freezing process in the fall;
and the whole becairiea thin dark fluid,
forming'a deadly vegetable poison. The
natural channel Of this poisonous fluid
would have been downward, but it was obstructed by .the damage done to_ the tree
below, and thus it remained in these
pouches between the wood and the, bark,
while the tree was making its vigorous and
healthy spring andsummer growth without showing any_ visible signs of disease.
If this liquid poison could have been entirely extracted in its_ first formation, the
tree would have received no damage farther than those injured places, which
would have healed up as any external
wound of the same extent. But it was
held here without any egress till it was absorbed by the wood of the tree and then
carried up with the ascending sap, as it is
generally called, through the capillary
tubes of the white wood till it reaches the
leaf where it suddenly appeared and showed itself as a deadly poison, in withering,
blighting and scorching the foliage of the
tree as though it had passed through the
fire. It almost invariable attacks the
most healthy and thrifty trees; and when
first seen with its scorching touch upon
the foliage of the tree, the work is done.
The tree, which in the morning is so beautiful in appearance and^ luxuriant in
growth, is soon seen quivering and wilting
in death, and in a fewshort hours itstands
an unsightly and blackened mass._ No
wonder this disease creates a panic in its
march, "and carries' gloom and 'discouragement into the rank of pearjgrowers: There
is no remedy for pear blight after this
poison is once earned into the circulating
fluids ofthe tree. When it is first seen in
a single branch, the tree can then only be
saved by cutting away this branch at once
below theseat of the disease or the spread
of the poison. But if it has been infused
into the tree, there is no cure, and it will
show itself in blight sooner or later; and
it may even from year to year, till the tree
is ruined or dead. The cause of blight
here presented, can be as clearly demonstrated as any mathematical proposition;
and it can be traced from cause to effect
and from effect to cause with the same precision. This is done by dissecting a limb
or tree, -where blight is seen, with a sharp
knife, by which the pores at the extremity
ofthe limb through" which this poisonous
and bark, is formed by the return of this
sap after having been thickened in the
leaf, and as it flows downward it forms the
annual ring or growth of the tree. The
tree. might be entirely girdtdd during the
winter or spring and still it would make
the same growth above the girdle as though
the bark had not been removed. Consequently, if this poisonous fluid could only
remain between the wood and bark, and
not be absorbed by the wood of the tree,
it could never reaoh the foliage or appear
in blight. In support of this, I will quote
a few sentences* from a late report of a
committee on blight beforo the American
Pomological Society. Thc report says,
" It is often noticed in very vigorous trees,
that the bark of the trunk is split longitudinally ; whenever this is apparent, such
trees are always free from this form of
blight, as the pressure upon the cellular
and vascular tissues has been relieved."
And farther it says: "Fromji series of
experiments commenced in 1857, it is demonstrated that trees whose bark has been
longitudinally incised never showed any
signs of this form of blight." This is demonstrating the truth of the assertion that
if this vitiated matter could be let out the
tree would not blight. And yet this report
was made to establish the theory of fungoid,
as the true cause of pear blight; and in
which it says: " Every observation tends
to the conclusion that fire blight is caused
by zymotic fungus, whose presence is not
detected until life is destroyed in the affected parts." The absurdity of this fungoid
and sporadic theory is too absurd to claim
more than a passing remark. Their advocates claim that the cause of the disease
only comes in or can be discovered after
life is extinct With the same propriety
we might claim that the presence of the
insects found in all decaying vegetable and
animal bodies is the cause of their disease
and death, but the facts are, they only
come in or can be detected, as this report
says, after life is destroyed. We have thus
given, as we believe, the true cause of blight
in the pear, and the process by which it is
brought about, and that the only remedy
after it makes its attack, js to dig up the
tree and plant a good tree in its place. This
brings us to the last and most important
part of the subject,—that of how to prevent blight. This, we believe, we can give as
definitely and as specifically as was the
remedy; and no practical pear grower of
long experience will dissent from it. You
will never have pear blight, though you
may cultivate your trees well and have
themgrowrapidly,provided youhavc them
wind up their growth and ripen their wood
in the fall_before cold weather. This will
prove an infalible remedy, or prevention
against blight.   But by many the question
will naturally be asked.   Howshall we secure this end?   The first thing to be de- ,
termincd, is a suitable location for the orchard, with proper soil, and then good cul- j
tivation and care of the trees. The best lo- j
cation is on high, dry land, and well drain- j
ed, and the best soil is our mulatto, sugar
tree up land with a clay sub-soil—just such ;
as we have generally on our up-lunds in
central   Indiana.   The   land   should   be
rich enough to secure good growth and
health 'to thc tree, but it- should not be ,
forced too rapidly by stimulating manures, '
which are always calculated to extend the
growth ofthe tree beyond the proper season to wind up and mature the wood well
for winter. The cultivation should be done
thoroughly and well early in the season, so
that the trees may make their full and
healthy annual growth and have plenty of
time to go into their state  of rest and
quiet before the frosts of winter come on.
Any kind of mulching that will keep the
ground loose and moist will secure thc
same end.   When the orchard is not tilled,
or we wish to give rest to the land, or when
thc trees come into bearing, the best treatment is to put it down to clover, which is
nature's own best mulching.    Thc ground
should never be suffered to become hard
or covered by close sod around the trees
for a single year.   This, as all practical
orchardists   well   know, will   check the
growth and stunt the trees, and may prove
ono of tho prolific sources of blight.   For
if the ground is hard about the trees, and
the early part of the season is very dry,
they will stand almost in a dormant condition till summer and fall rains set in.when
they will make their wanted growth too
late to wind up in safety and secure themselves against early freezing, the effect of
which in such case always lead more or less
to blight.   The success, then, in pear culture, and the exemption from blight depend
much on a high and dry location for the
orchard, with a quick mulatto soil underlaid with clay, and with good mulching or
thorough cultivation in early season, and
rest before winter.   If this end can be
reached, blight panics banished and confidence restored in the cultivation of this
most valuable and delicious fruit, the day
is not far distant when pear culture will
not only furnish one of the most valuable
and healthful luxuries of life, but it will
become one of our prime staples in trade.:
I doubt whether there is a district of;
country in the world where pears have succeeded better than they have in central In-1
diana for the last forty years; and I doubt!
whether there is a city in the union where
they will find abetter market for the next;
fortyyearsthaninburcapital.   Indianapo- j
lis, with her unprecedented growth and j
rapidly increasing population is destined'
to be the great fruit market of the west;;
and the demand for fruits is increasing already far beyond her means of supply. • In ;
fact there are at the present time almost.
no market fruit orchards in her vicinity, even for the present demand; and consequently, with her already fast multiplying population, her future fruit market
must be supplied from other States or districts, as it now is in a great measure, under high   commissions   and   exhorbitant
charges for transportation.   In conclusion
then, we say to all who want to cultivate
fruits for market, there is here a wide field
open for you, where you may realize tho
most valuable returns from year to year,
especially in the cultivation of the pear;
and to the amature who wishes to live upon the most healthy diet and one of the
most delicious luxuries of life, turn your
attention to the raising of pears, the tine
qua n<mne of fruits. W. A. Ragan.
Clayton, Ind., Jan., 1874.
To Correspondents.—Correspondents
will please remember to give their State,
county, postoflice, name and number of
their granges. _ Many letters are received at
this office which cannot be answered, for
want of proper directions.
Henley Jambs,
•      M. Ind. S. G. P. of H.
i Marion, Grant Co., Ind., Jan. 31, '74.
 —s>
Watne CouNTTr".—We had a rousing
farmers'   meeting  here, (Richmond), last
Saturday, the crowd was estimated at from
seven to nine hundred, and was enthusiastic in proportion to its size.   The resolu-     ..
tions adopted were "sensible to the last." fjlL
We will send you a copy as soon as pub- *^**\
lished. J. C. Ratliff.
A
W;e have received notice of the organization of Asbury Grange in Knox county, ^;
No. 1078, showing that we number consid-®
erably over   1,000 granges in  the State.
The date of the dispensation of this grange
was January 22d.