The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-09-08
,,-.-,.. :, ro,umbia. and successful

land District of Columbia, and s1seess'ul
| in Kentucky, Alabama, and yrg 81 Rboda
/, Sheldon. Very successMsu a,ssacbusetts.
MARYLAND. District of Columbia, anu LUZ
no;s. successful in Alabama.
n Yin notion of MIR. Weir, the society 1usI
odinnrned to meet again ut 8 O'Clock I. NJ
Evening Session.
rba society met, pursuant to ADJOURN.
/ ,,,ant nj 0'clock-Mr. Parker Earle' OF
Iminois in the chair, and MIR. b. b. Weir,
!. NJ Illinois. acting secretary.
VI On motion of DR.. Houseley, the subject OF
PEAR CULTURE
r,,os distressed, Mr.. Saunders, of the Dis
/; .rjct of Columbia, leading of, aud IN the
course of his remarks alluded to the pru-
nine of pear trees, reduction OF roots, re-
duction of branches in excess Of roots, the
formation OF fruit spurs, height Of pear
trees. mildew and the antdotes for mill
| dew, sulphur of lime sn1 carbolic acid
being used by bin with good results.
| With carbolic acid the speaker stated
that he had begun his experiments
by using one drop Of the acid to 400 drops
of water, and finally, using one ounce OF
the strong carbolIc acid solution. The orr, !.
gin of the disease he did not know, but IL
u
moved by cutting away the blightec por-
ton. When 1t attacks the stem, however,
ithe tree is gone; and this wash was intended
| for the stem and with great success. he
had never examined the roots OF the Tree
and did not know that the disease attacked
that point first. He thought, however, that
the great object in all fruit culture was 70
! secure maturely in growth before Inc VIII
ter's cold should set in. ,o
| Professor Taylor, of the Agricultural De-
! nartment, followed Mr. Saunders, and In
, learned and interesting address explained
I his microscopic observations of the effect OF
Icater uDon fruits, their fermentation, and
| the formation Of the fungi, the origin OF
which he regarded to be atmospheric IN
| fiuence chiefly.
DR.. Houseley, of Kansas, said that he had
heen much Interested in the remarks of
| Professor Taylor, but what he wanted to
! Get at was the origin of pear blight. one
! theory, he thought, was the lung ori-
! GIN" and another, that 1t was Vegetaoie
apoplexy, and that wet seasons, produced
/ this more than anything else. The founda::
ton of the disease, he thought, was laid
! the wear before it's development. In 1874
| he lad o young orchard, and on one oc-
casion there came on very heavy
north wind aud rain, which was followed
by snow, aud finally with sleet. The next
morning the ice was an inch thick upon all
| the trees. When the spring came he went
out to trim up the orchard, and on nearly
/ all the trees he found q yellow ring, The
cause of this he did not know, but on every
/ tree where this disease, or ring, appeared,
| the graft was entirely destroyed and dead.
| The inevitable conclusion was that the in
tense. cold had produced this, but what
! the disease was he did not know. When
! the spring came on the young trees,
vet wet with the winter storms, were SUBJ
| iected to the beat OF the sun. This it was,
| he thought, which had done the work.
! But the disease was attributable be believed
F.! equally to cold as heat. He had been an
, apple and pear grower for more than forty
/ wears, and each year his conclusions in re-
latfon to pear blight had been strengthened,
that it originated either from intense cold
or heat.
Mr.. Weir next gave his experience of the
diseases to which the trees were subjected:
| the attacks Of the worm and the formation
and spread of the "fungi."
MIR. Smith. of Syracuse, n. z, thought
the trouble was in the seeding. lie had
noticed the blight in the wood about three
weeks ago. But what he wanted to get at
was why this blight seemed to spread as it
did.
MIR. Meehan, Of Pennsylvania, had for
twenty years watched the growth Of the
trees, and was inclined to believe that the
disease really occurred at the root first, and
that the appearance of the fungi on the
trees was owing 10 this. The experience
which he bad had, and his personal obser-
yatlon, had led blm TO this conclusion.
Mr.. Lemosy, of Norfolk county, Va,
followed Mr. Meehan, whose views he en-
dor>ed fully. lie had been pear-groWer
for twenty years. He had appealed to
every work upon horticulture which he
could secure. From European works he
had received some interesting intorma-
ton. In one Of those works he had
seen three kinds Of blight discussed
the insect blight, atmospheric blight,
from heat or cold, but the most
injurious blight was the fungi. HIS expe-
rience had also proven that the blight was
! in the beginning from the root. But he
had found no remedy that would save the
tree when attacked BY fungi unless taken up.
| the fungi cleared away from the root, aud
replantcd IN another soil; and the origin Of
F! this di.else he believed to be the stagna.
. ton of moisture.
At 1880 the meeting then adjourned I'M
| til 9 O'Clock this morning.