Question
Beginning late last summer I noticed several Bradford pears trees in my neighborhood (north Dallas Texas) looking sick.  They eventually died.  Now my Bradford is looking the same.  The leaves are curling, browning and appear to be shrinking.  I also found a little white fuzzy looking bug on one of the branches.  Any idea of what this, have you heard of this, can I save my tree.

Answer
Bradford pears are not very long lived trees and suffer from a mayriad of problems.  Drought stress from last year is probably the main culprit.  There is also a bacterial disease called fire blight that affects them.  If only the tips of branches have the dying and brown leaves, I would say it is fire blight.  They sell a fire blight spray which has streptomycin as the active ingredient.  It needs to be applied at budbreak to be effective.  If the dying leaves are deeper in the canopy, then it could be drought stress.  In this case you would need to water during periods of dry weather.  I dont think the mealy bug is a problem.  I have seen a row of bradford pears and only one will have problems while the rest are healthy.  They have great variation in their genetics so they act funny such as some turning colors while others stay green and so forth.  Take a closer look for any wounds on the trunk.  This can also cause the tree to show those symptoms.  Good Luck.