498 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



ease which have come under ray observation are invariably the 

 result of letting the fruit hang on the trees till ripe and then the 

 rot is very active ; but cherries should be picked a few days before 

 ripe, before they soften, and then the rot does not seriously affect 

 them. An illustration of this point, which is a most important one,, 

 was brought to my notice the present season. The last week of 

 June, in eastern New York, was very hot and close with showera 

 every day or two. The cherries were then ripening and the condi- 

 tions were favorable for the rot to spread. In one orchard from 

 which several tons of cherries were shipped that week, there was 

 not more than 150 pounds destroyed by the rot, while in another 

 orchard a few miles distant at least 10 tons of the same varieties 

 were ruined on the trees. In the first orchard the fruit was picked 

 before it had ripened, and all that was fit was taken off as soon as 

 the trees dried off after a shower / in the other orchard it was left 

 till nearly ripe and one-half to two-thirds of the crop was lost before 

 the fruit could be picked. So rapid is the work of this fungus at 

 this period, that the owner of the orchard told me that he lost three 

 tons of one variety in one night. It might be added that the 

 orchard first mentioned was a much stronger one, as it was in culti- 

 vation, while the last had been in sod for years, and the general 

 debility and neglect of the trees made them good subjects for the 

 attacks of rot or any other disease. 



The most serious insect pests are the black aphis and curculio. 

 The aphis often attacks young trees and sometimes the bearing 

 ones. They appear early in the season and multiply very fast. 

 This aphis is found in great numbers on the young shoots and the 

 under sides of leaves and on stems of the fruit, excreting a sticky 

 substance which covers the pests ; and the leaves curl up. It may 

 appear as late as September but seldom in sufficient numbers to da 

 injury. The aphis is a sucking insect and has to be treated with 

 kerosene emulsion or whale oil soap, of which one or two thorough 

 sprayings is generally sufficient to clear the trees. The spray must 

 be applied as soon as the aphis appears, or the attacked leaves curl 

 with the insect inside and it is impossible to reach them, and the 

 full grown insect is very hard to kill. In such cases it is advised to 

 pick the affected leaves and destroy them if possible and then spray 

 so as to kill the remaining ones on the twigs and fruit. 



The full treatment of the curculio is to be made the subject of a 

 separate bulletin. 



