Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1910-12-23

blight but the mossback community
in which he lived
In the foothill districts Of Placer,
Eldorado and Nevada counties east
of Sacramento the loss has been ex-
ceedingly light. The growers in these
sections began their fight early, and
have kept it up so that at this time
here are probably no fewer bearing
pear trees than there were four or
five years ago. In Placer county
alone when / first began my work
there, ten inspectors, including the
county horticultural commissioners,
were put on and the work of eradi-
cation was thoroughly done.
It would be very difficult to tell
how many trees were lost in Cali
fornia throughout the entire state,
but the figures taken from the car
load shipments will tell the story
pretty well. In 1900 California
shipped 2115 carloads of pears, and
in the same year 1875 tons were
dried, and perhaps half a million
cases were canned. In 1907, only
1899 cars were shipped and only 500
tons dried. We have no data on the
canned product, but it is well known
that 1t fell off correspondingly Such
figures as I have given should strike
terror into any community whose In
dustry is that of growing pears and
apples.
In the Rogue river valley and in
southern Oregon we find magnifi-
cent soil for pear and apple growing.
At this time, with the valley only
partially developed, the estimated
value of the orchards reaches far into
the millions. Pear blight has not
been in the valley very long, but it Is
here and must be considered serious
ly. Only in three or four cases has
1t done any serious damage, and the
total loss for the entire valley in
pears and apples is probably not
more than 1000 trees. The highest
recorded loss in one orchard is per-
haps 500 or 600 trees, and this loss
might have been avoided If the own
er had taken the proper steps in
eradicating very few cases of hold
over blight. Another orchard lost
nearly 200 trees, but these were
practically destroyed before 1t was
known that blight existed in the val
ley. The writer first came into the
valley In 1907, and since that time a
very strenuous fight has been kept
up. AS in California, we had to fight
and ignorance, but, for the
most part, the growers have swung
into line and are putting up a good
fight. Very slight losses have oc-
Cured during the past two years,
and these losses have been mostly
in the villages and towns and in the
old home orchards, where 1t Is diff
ficult to make the owners see the ne
cessity Of cleaning up. The COM
orchards have done excellent
work Even the largest orchards in
the valley have demonstrated the eff
fectiveness OF careful eradication.
At this time 1t is a pleasure to visit
them and see the heavily laden pear
and apple trees with not a blighted
spur or twig upon them.
The only serious mistake made in
the beginning of the pear blight cam.
paign in 1907 was the failure to pro-
vide sufficient number Of inspec-
tors, and this mistake has only been
remedied In part at this time. Until
a year ago the entire work of going
over the two counties of the Rogue
river valley was given to two men.
1t is surprising that as good results
have been gotten, and l have often
wondered how It happened.
The Importance of the pear blight
problem to the horticultural inter-
ests OF the Pacific coast states en-
phasizes very clearly the value and
necessity Of plant pathological work.
What each district needs is a strong
man who is both scientific and prac-
tlcal, for handling such a difficult
problem. Not only does each dis
trict need the constant and careful
attention OF trained pathologist.
but II needs inspectors and commits
sioners who will see to II that the
horticultural statutes are rigldly en-
forced. II grower chooses to lose
his crop by any disease which is not
considered contagious or spreading.
and which may readily be controlled
by simple spray treatments. II Is Biz
own lookout; but where his penrs
and apples are source Of general
infection from pear blight II becomes
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