I notice your tilts at those who do not believe in opening the bark. I have seen in an orchard of the best fruit, splendid trees, split in the bark of the trunk and larger limbs. In a place, fence between, same soil, same trees in variety, scant fruit, bad quality in comparison and no thrift. I have split tree bark; saw it done sixty years ago; then the careful men always did it. I have scraped the rough bark off, and cleaned the trunks.

A friend here uses linseed oil, to an extent as if house painting, on 1, 2, 3 and 4 year old pear trees, trunk and limbs, and has stopped the blight, no increase of disease and tree apparently unharmed. I saw the trees, had my hand on them, and he says, he did this before and will continue.