38 BrLLETiN 172. 



crusliod, and tlioj are so near the surface that the nsiial shallow cul- 

 tivation of the orchard does not materially change their position 

 relative to the surface. Possibly deep plowing, which is not often 

 practicable in a cherry orchard, in late fall or early spring, might 

 bury these puparia so deeply that the emerging flies could not get 

 to the surface. Where only a few trees were infested it would be 

 practica])le to remove the surface soil to a depth of an inch or so 

 from beneath the tree and either bury it deeply, put in the hen 

 yard, or in a much-traveled roadway. 



One afflicted cherry grower sends the following valuable hint : 

 " We have growing in our hen-yard several cherry trees, and they 

 were not as badly infested as the trees outside of it. We can only 

 account foi- it in that the hens found the insects as food." Undoubt- 

 edly hens would find many of the brown puparia in the soil, and conld 

 doubtless be successfully employed against the pest on a few trees. 

 Place a temporary wire-netting fence around one or more trees, turn 

 the hens loose in the enclosure, and stir the soil every day or two to 

 encourage them. Do this soon after the fruit is picked and we 

 doubt if many of the puparia will escape the sharp eyes of the fowls. 



Something can be done toward checking the pest by not allowing 

 any cherries to remain on the trees after the last picking. If what 

 few " windfalls " there might be were destroyed, all the marketable 

 fruit picked and disposed of, and all fruits removed from the tree at 

 the last picking, most of the infested cherries would be gotten out 

 of the orchard before most of the maggots had matured and gotten 

 into the soil. Of course, wdiere early and late varieties are infested 

 in the same orchard, this plan might not noticeably diminish the 

 numbers of the pest. It is well worthy of consideration, howevei-. 



There yet remains one stage of the insect against wldch we have 

 not turned our destructive batteries. One of the first questions 

 asked us by an afflicted cherry grower, when he understood how 

 little chance there was of getting at the insect while in the fruit or 

 in the soil, was, Avhy cannot we either kill the flies, or deter or pre- 

 vent them from laying their eggs in the cherries. He inquired if 

 bad-smelling substances hung in the trees or sprayed upon them 

 would not drive the flies away. Apparently no experiments along 

 this line have been made in this country against similar flies, but, 



