70 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



flat-headed borer. It uniformly gets in where the bark has been 

 scorched by the sun. Any one will see that that side will not merely 

 become heated by the rays of the sun, but it becomes diseased and 

 unhealthy. 



The President— Do you understand it to be distinct from the apple 

 tree borer? 



Mr. Bryant, Jr. — Entirely distinct. The head is always flat, and the 

 bod}' quite slender. I have seen them of very different sizes, but they 

 all resemble each other in that respect, and they work immediately 

 under the bark. A large piece of the bark becomes dead. With regard 

 to the Curculio of the cherry, 1 do not know but we may be in as much 

 danger as Dr. Hull says, of losing our cherries by them. But years 

 ago the wild cherry was attacked by the Curculio. I am not learned 

 in Curculio ; but it was one of these varieties, and not a cherry could 

 be found without a worm in it. I have never met with a single instance 

 in any cultivated cherry. 



Mr. Riley — I did not know that it was in order to discuss this 

 matter. The cherr}'^ borer has long been known as peculiar to the 

 cherrj', and I do not think it is confined to any particular kind of 

 cherry. It is a species very similar to the flat-headed apple tree borer. 

 The difference, practically, is nothing, and the same means can be taken 

 to get rid of it : that is the use of soap on the tree. The peculiarity of 

 the moth is that the tips of the wing-cover are bifurcated— that is the 

 cherry borer. The Curculio infests the cherry, but I wish to disabuse 

 you of the idea that this Curculio is the cause of the rotting of the 

 cherry. 



Mr. Wier — This year, on the 20th of June, or thereabouts, we had 

 three days of severe windy weather — very severe. All the cherries that 

 were anywhere near ripe at that time ripened up without any rot what- 

 ever, but those that were just beginning to turn, or were at their full 

 growth, were bruised all over. The rot commenced on the west side 

 of the tree, and the wind came from the west. .Some varieties were 

 largely stung by the Curculio, and some not at all ; but they all rotted. 



