Just as some kids in a 5 child family can be more or less disease resistant than the other kids in the family, I suppose that "variability varies" in plants as well. Some Keiffers have been the tougher family members and some the weaker. Multitudes of plastic tags on Keiffer trees at retail outlets declare the frequently false statement of comfort that the tree is fireblight resistant. As a former president stated to those who learned of his bad behavior, "Are you going to believe me, or your lying eyes?" I bet that a photo of a Keiffer branch with both FB on it and the original plastic tag boasting of it's FB resistance...would be instructional.Since there are many Keiffer trees that have not proven to be FB resistant, the tags are untrue. Seedling fruit trees can have fruit with differing fruit qualities, and I suppose that 'seedling' fireblight bacterium can be different from their kinfolk also. Some may be 'Leroy Brown' bad....and possibly coming to a pear tree near you.

I'm going to give you the counter opinion to copingwithclay. I had to seriously cut out fireblight two years running in my Hosui when it was small and it went on to survive girdling by goats. It it currently loaded with fine fruit. I've cut back Nijiseiki to just above the graft twice and it recovered (though I had to be really patient). Both of these, like the majority of Asian pears, are considered fireblight susceptible. I chopped the top out of my YaLi due to FB even though it is supposedly fireblight resistant. Shinko is also supposed to be resistant but it's not much for taste (for me at least). Most of my other Asian pears are considered susceptible though they have not gotten infected. Bottom line is that in my limited experience, most, if not all, of the Asian pears worth having are potentially susceptible and I would definitiely try to save them before getting rid of them. The recommended spray to prevent FB is streptomycin which is available from some of the mail order places. I have used it but I don't have enough experience to say how well it works in general. Close monitoring with quick pruning is my recommendation.

I think I have everbearing. They are sweet yet tart with good flavor. I grow them in a raised bed, which was well mixed with manure and clay to begin with. Since then we've added some soil conditioner (to keep it a bit acidic) and mulched with leaves and then regular straw. The bed is narrow and on it's own, so it is fairly easy to maintain this way, I will eventually plant other beds as well, probably using the same method. The organic matter does attract a lot of bugs, so I sprinkle around and under the berries with diamotaceous earth and wash well before eating. I think berries are something you could manage to play around with the soil and the acidity and get a good flavor from. The Yahoo group is like all of them - you can look online if you are registered, you may get a daily digest or get the emails as they come - which is usually how most of us are getting them. There are only a handful of folks on the list, and it's not overly (not annoyingly) active but active enough.

Can you tell us what are the varieties of your pears? Asian or Euro? CAR come from both cedar and juniper. They are everywhere. Wet spring is good for spreading. We have a dry spring here in New England so not much CAR this year.