lications in the New England Farmer, and Mr. Fessenden, in a review of facts, declared that "further investigation into the cause and consequence of the malady in pear trees, led him to doubt the correctness of his first formed opinion." "We now doubt," said he, "whether the Scolytus Pyri can be the perpetrator of all the mischief which we were at first disposed to attribute to his agency."

It might be supposed, from Mr. Downing's description of insect blight, that he means to be understood, that there is a blight in pear trees, unaccompanied by a vitiated state of the sap. But I apprehend that this is an error.

FROZEN SAP BLIGHT, OR WINTER BLIGHT.--In what I consider the uncertainty of the mode in which this injury happens, I prefer, as I have already stated, Mr. Beecher's term of winter blight. The name, frozen sap blight, would somewhat import, that mere intensity of cold, and a freezing of the sap, would prove destructive to the trees. The conjecture is, that the freezing ruptures the sap vessels, and destroys their capacity for transmitting the sap. The nature of the injury could doubtless be solved by the aid of microscopic observations, which could be readily invited, and made efficient, by the Smithsonian Institute. All gardeners, at least, will unite in testifying to them, that knowledge on this subject is worthy of extension and diffusion among men.

Mr. Downing states, very confidently, that the sap becomes poisoned, and, by dilution with other descending sap, is carried down, infecting the tree below, and part carried inwards towards the pith, poisoning the alburnum. Is this the result of observation, or is it conjecture? I apprehend it is the latter. From such observations as I have made, perhaps too limited, the conclusion I formed was, that the sap, after fermentation, was no longer transmissible, and soon dried up, after which, the bark shrivelled, and producing, in fact, a decortication. If the sap is poisoned and carried inwards, it would also ascend through the alburnum, and infect the top. But this is not the case: grafts taken from a blighted top, will grow into healthy branches, as I have seen, and as Mr. Lazell, of Columbus, also testifies. The injury may be regarded as entirely local. I have seen a single fruit-spur blighted on the side of a healthy limb, and, on seizing it, to pull it away, the

bark, for an inch in diameter, came with it,-the space below showing the discolored sap, and the injury confined to that limb.

I should be very glad to find, that my explanation of this matter is not the true one. For, when I became satisfied that fire blight was not caused by an insect, and that it was not a disease, but the result of cold, acting on the fluids of the tree, I began to despair of the orchard I had so fondly commenced, with a fine selection. For I can scarcely hope, that, at intervals of fifteen or twenty years, seasons may occur so unfavorable, as to carry off our trees, despite of every care we may use. But we may, nevertheless, do something, by selection of soil, and planting in the lightest soils that the nature of each kind will bear; and still more may be done, by seeking hardy kinds that make slow growth, and always ripen their wood; and by growing our thrifty kinds on slow-growing stocks.

Urbana, Ohio, December 5, 1848.

We can assure Mr. James, to whom we feel much indebted for the above interesting account of his experience, with the destructive blight of the West, that it is entirely distinct from the insect blight, as described by Mr. Lowell, and Gov. Lincoln; but, as we have no room now to discuss the matter, we propose to take it up in another number. We will then endeavor, with the aid of Dr. Harris, to show the undoubted character of the Insect Blight.-Ed.

ART. III. Disease in Apples. By N. GOODSELL, Esq., Rochester, N. Y.

THE disease in potatoes has, for the last few years, been a prolific source of discussion in our agricultural and horticultural journals. As that subject has become rather stale of late, not that the importance of the subject has decreased, but that those discussions have not produced any definite conclusion either as to the cause of the disease, or an acknowledged preventive, I would invite the attention of your pomological con

tributors to the disease in apples. I fear that this delicious fruit is to be subject to a disease, the cause of which may, perhaps, be as difficult of discovery or prevention as that which has attacked the potato.

During the last year, I noticed several varieties of apples, decayed before their usual time, and not in the usual manner, while the skin remained sound, the pulp beneath became discolored, or of a lightish brown, and, in color, taste, and smell, what has been termed the "bitter rot," which has long affected many varieties at the core. This season, I have found a greater proportion of such fruit as have ripened diseased than I saw last year. The variety which has been cultivated for the last fifty years through western New York as the Holland Pippin, (not the Holland Pippin of Downing,) and which we consider one of our finest varieties for late fall, and early winter use, has been materially injured by this disease. This variety has, for many years, been injured more or less by black spots upon the skin, which spots have much the same smell and taste that the discolored pulp has, from which circumstance I fear that it originates from the same cause, or one very similar.

This discoloring, in many specimens which I have noticed, appears to radiate from the calyx, or the line between that and the core, and the core was also affected with the bitter rot. The Esopus Spitzenberg, Baldwin, and Newtown Pippin have been, for many years, more or less subject to the bitter rot in some localities, but they are of firmer flesh than the Holland Pippin; it remains to be seen whether they will be liable to this disease.

Rochester, November 25th, 1848.

ART. IV. Descriptions and Engravings of Six Varieties of Apples. By T. S. HUMRICKHOUSE, Coshocton, Ohio.

THE following descriptions and figures of six well-known apples have been prepared for the Magazine, with a view to aid, as far as in my power, in rescuing them from a portion

of the confusion in which their names are now involved. A further detection of synonymes, in the case of some of them, and even of the true names which must take precedence of all others, is doubtless to be expected. In the mean time, inasmuch as their propagation under some or all of their appellatives will be continued and extended, it is well that all which has been ascertained concerning them should be given to the public.

1. KEISER.

Seek-No-Further,

Red Seek-No-Further,

}

of Western collections.

This is a very beautiful apple, common in northern and central Ohio. The size is medium, some specimens approaching to large the form regular, flattened, ribbed color, bright red, marbled and striped with darker red skin, thin and

Fig. 1. Keiser Apple.

glossy calyx, open in a ribbed basin: stem, short, a little fleshy, in a narrow russeted cavity: flesh, white, very juicy, saccharine, spicy, and high-flavored, even excelling the green Newtown Pippin, which it much resembles in this respect;

solid also to the touch, but tender when it comes to be eaten : the seeds are light-colored, brown on one side, and white on the other season, December to April. A first-rate fruit in all respects.

2. WESTFIELD SEEK-NO-FURTHER. Fruits and Fruit Trees of America.

Seek-No-Further,

Russet Seek-No-Further,

of some collections.

Marietta Seek-No-Further. Fruits and Fruit Trees of America.

This is one of the apples brought out by the emigrants of the "Ohio Company," shortly after they made their first settlement at the mouth of the Muskingum. The size is a little below medium: form, regular, ovate: color, dull red next the sun, striped, yellowish green in the shade, obscurely dotted,

Fig. 2. Westfield Seek-No-Further Apple.

russeted about the stalk, and frequently over a greater part of the surface, which is then rough: stem, slender, of medium length: calyx, open, in a narrow shallow basin: flesh, pale yellow, very tender and juicy, with a rich saccharine flavor, a little astringent: season, November to March. A very pro