Bartlett Pears
The Pear thrives on clay soil, if well underdrained, and for this reason may succeed in places where other fruits might fail. A good, steady growth should be maintained, but the use of nitrogenous manures should be avoided, as they tend to make a rank growth and invite attacks of Pear blight, which is the worst enemy of the Pear. For summer fruits: Osband’s Summer, Bartlett, Clapp and Manning Elizabeth are among the best. For autumn: Duchess, Flemish Beauty, Bosc, Louise Bonne, Seckel and Sheldon. For winter fruit: Anjou, Clairgeau, Lawrence and Winter Nelis are excellent. Kieffer is an excellent commercial fruit, but it is too poor to be given space in the home ground except as an ornamental tree.
Of the Pear blight, Duggar writes as follows:
“Remedies. (a) The knife and the saw.—With a disease working as this does, it is very evident that there is no chance either for cure or prevention by means of spraying. The heroic treatment of the knife and saw must be adopted and vigorously pursued, as has been claimed from the beginning. The blackened leaves alone must not serve as signs of the diseased area, but one must examine carefully the branches and remove them 6 inches or more below the lowest discolorations. Often before cutting, pruners slice the bark downward to see where the injury ends. This should not be done; it is better to be sure that you are below the infected area, and run no such risk of infecting anew the tissues below. The cut surfaces of larger limbs and branches should be painted for protection against wound rots.
“(b) When to cut.—Cutting out diseased portions should be done whenever the disease is evident. This may check the injuries temporarily; but it has been shown that much can be done in the autumn to prevent the establishment of the disease the following spring. It has long been known that the disease may pass the winter in the branches by a slow growth in the neighborhood of late infections. Thorough work of eradication should especially be performed after the season of growth. Then cut out every diseased branch and burn, so that in the spring when the succulent growth begins again, there will be few places in which insects may come in contact with the bacterial exudations.
“(c) Conditions favoring the disease.—The knife is our only hope of extermination; but there are undoubtedly conditions which favor the disease. In a succulent, rapidly growing tree the bacteria find more favorable conditions for their development than in one which grows slowly, yet with sufficient vigor. For this reason, too much nitrogenous manure is dangerous; and, for the same reason, a succulent growth induced by severe pruning should be avoided.”
Pelargonium, or Geranium
Pelargoniums. Here belong the plants known as Geraniums—the most satisfactory of house-plants, and extensively used as bedding plants. No plants will give better returns in leaf and flower; and these features, added to the ease of propagation, make them general favorites. Cuttings of partially ripened wood root very easily, grow to blooming size in a short time, and, either planted out or grown in a pot, make fine decorations. The common or “Fish” Geraniums are much more satisfactory when not more than a year old. Take cuttings from the old plants at least once a year. In four or five months the young plants begin to bloom. Plants may be taken up from the garden and potted, but they rarely give as much satisfaction as young, vigorous subjects. Repot frequently until they are in 4- to 5-inch pots; then let them bloom.