Glossary · Orchard
Fireblight
Definition
A bacterial disease of apples and especially pears that blackens blossom and shoots as though scorched, killing branches rapidly and sometimes whole trees.
- Subject
- Orchard
In more detail
Infection enters through open flowers in warm, humid weather and moves down the shoot. There is no curative treatment: management is removal of infected wood well below the visible margin, disinfection of tools, and avoidance of the lush growth that follows heavy feeding or hard pruning. Pears are more vulnerable than apples, which matters for perry pear conservation.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Orchard
Canker
A fungal disease, caused by *Neonectria ditissima*, that forms sunken, cracked lesions on branches and trunks, girdling and killing the wood beyond them.
Orchard
Scab
A fungal disease, caused by *Venturia inaequalis*, producing olive-brown blotches on leaves and corky, cracked lesions on fruit. It reduces yield, disfigures fruit and opens the way for rots.
Perry
Perry pear
A pear cultivar grown for fermentation rather than for eating, characterised by high tannin, high acid or both, small size, and flesh too hard and astringent for the table.
Perry
Perry pear conservation
The organised work of finding, identifying, propagating and replanting surviving perry pear cultivars, most of which exist as a handful of ageing trees.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
NIAB (incorporating East Malling Research)
NIAB · research institute · retrieved 2026-08-24
East Malling developed the M-series apple rootstocks that determine tree size in essentially every modern orchard, cider orchards included. The authority CiderHQ uses for rootstock behaviour.
Teagasc — Agriculture and Food Development Authority
Teagasc · research institute · retrieved 2026-08-24