The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-25


Editor Of the Morning News: Your ar
fiole u FEB :. entitled Making Orchard
Trees More Fruitful and Longlived''I have
read ri.h much interest 1t seerls very
plausible that continued summer growth
could have a salutary effect in hardening
the tree.
Your comments on pear blight. however,
do not so smoothly ft into my belief
rdo not understand the blight Of the past
season 10 have been caused b. the freez-
rg weather OF March. At that time the
trees in my yard were in full leaf, and the
few pears that had set We're the size of
small acorns. Neither leaf nor fruit sur
fered any injury from the cold, though
all the young peaches on The place were
frozen and fell off. My pear trees showed
only trace of blight and that had APP
peared before the cold spell.
That blight appeared before the freeZ-
ing weather. l am sure, but it is not of
vital Importance to my theory to know
that some orchards did not blight till
afterwards The trees that l observed
blossomed profusely, but the flowers failed
20 become fortified. While Towering was
going on the weather was fine. Sap was
towing into branch and twig, but egress
% the air necessary to its assimilation
was cut of by the failure of the flower
and the effect would be the same IL the
leaves or flowers were blasted by freez-
ms.
Sap elaboration became impossible till
il-ercourse with the outer air was re-
stored and if that is too long delayed
The crude sap stagnates and its dissolu-
ton begins.
Blight at once appears. and the exist
ence of the tree depends on finding ex-
panding buds in time to succor the impris-
oned sap. The extent OF the damage will
be proportionate TO the amount of force
the tree can eNpend in producing fresh
buds before the sap spoils.
Why many flowers were sterile the
past season was apparently from a lack
of humidity. 4 case In point is in the two
rows YOU mention as receiving the waste
water from. boilers They set fruit while
others not having such a supply were bar
rem.
Fertilization of the flower was effected
in the former, while in the latter case
il failed 1t has come to my notice that
quite good many pears We're raised the
past season in the vicinity of Dorchester.
1 am led to believe that owing to more
humidity in that locality, formulation was
more general; the cold weather not being
much of a factor in shortening the crop.
! have in my yard an extraordinary case
ef leaf blight. The tree came from the
nursery seven years ago, and developed
leaf-blight the first season. It sends out
4 few leaves annually which stay on just
long enough to keep the breath Of life
u it.
1t yields two crops of blghted leaves
each season. The past season 1t put on
some wood for the first time, but lost it
again by fall-blight. 1t is said that every
Tree must put on a layer Of wood each
season. The layers on this must be in
initesimally thin, for the tree is now
less than an inch in diameter.
I believe this tree can be made healthy
by proper culture,
can not think that infusoria have any,
hing to do with causing blight. Their OPP
portunity lies in putrefaction. They are
the "undertakers" come to prepare the
body after dissolution. While they have
10 hand in the killing they are always
ready to be "in at the death" j. A. 2,
Gertrude, Ga.