Fireblight

Fireblight is a bacterial disease which kills the shoots of apples and pears and their ornamental relatives, giving the plant the appearance of having been scorched by fire.

Symptoms
Blossoms wilt and die at flowering time
A slimy white liquid may exude from infections in wet weather
Shoots shrivel and die as the infection spreads down the inner bark
During the short period of active spread, the outer wood is stained a foxy brown colour when the infected bark is peeled back
Cankers (areas of dead, sunken bark) on branches, especially where infected shoots join larger branches