No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 427 



but favorable weather, just when the fruit is maturing, is absolutely 

 necessary. A couple days of rain when the fruit is ready to pick, 

 followed by hot sun, mav cause the fruit to rot and render the whole 

 crop unmarketable. Robins and catbirds are very fond of them, 

 and destroy large quantities before they are ripe. We would, there- 

 fore, advise against the extensive planting of sweet cherries in Penn- 

 sylvania, as we usually have thunder storms in June followed by 

 hot suoshine, and our farms should be well stocked with robins 

 and catbirds. It is different with sour cherries. They are not 

 so much affected by rain, especially the later kinds, and the birds do 

 not molest them. Land that is too thin and dry to grow other fruit, 

 or even to grow good farm crops may be profitably utilized by plant- 

 ing to sour cherries, and the general market has never been over- 

 Btocked W'ith them. 



£ook Cherry^ a local Lancaster county variety, is dark red, ripens 

 about the middle of June, it is medium to large, of fine flavor, a heavy, 

 regular bearer, good shipper, hangs long on the tree before it de- 

 clines; a very profitable market sort. Recommended by John Wait- 

 zel, of Bethesda, Lancaster county. 



CLIMATE. 



"The climate of Pennsylvania is remarkable for the great change 

 it exhibits between the summer heat of the central and southern 

 portion, and the extreme cold of the uplands of the northern coun- 

 ties. The summer heats are more than tropical both on the Ohio 

 river in the southwest, and the Susquehanna and Delaware in the 

 southeast. While on the highlands of the northeastern counties and 

 in Elk, McKean and other counties of that elevated plateau in which 

 the Allegheny river takes its rise, the winters are sometimes of al- 

 most arctic severity. The difference in elevation is the chief cause of 

 the low temperature on the northern plateaus; their average being 

 about 1,500 feet above eea level, in some cases, large tracts reach 

 nearly 2,000 feet, still being generally level enough for cultivation. 

 The Susquehanna Valley cuts deeply through the whole mass, and 

 along the main stem and principal branches it affords a mild climate 

 and prolific soil, admirably adapted to the production of fruit. Tor- 

 nadoes and hurricanes, such as are know-o on the Atlantic Coast, from 

 the Gulf of Mexico to New England, are never experienced within 

 the limits of the State in any marked degree of severity. 



"Altogether, Pennsylvania has a climate highly favored in many 



