1842 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



New York State is New American. A few mulberry trees scattered 

 about the outskirts of the cherry orchard will do much toward reducing 

 the damage caused by birds. 



INSECT ENEMIES 



Thfe more important insect pests that attack the cherry are the black 

 cherry aphis, the plum curculio, the cherry fruit-flies, and the pear slug. 

 A number of scale insects are of minor importance. 



Black cherry aphis {Myzus cerasi) . — This insect is a serious pest only 

 on sweet varieties. It is a small, dark brown or nearly black, sucking 

 insect that is first found on the young succulent shoots early in spring. 

 This insect often occurs in great numbers and attacks the underside 

 of the leaves, causing them to curl and also stunting the shoots. It 

 excretes a sweet substance known as honeydew, which covers the foliage 

 and fruit and renders the latter unfit for market. 



Control. — " Black Leaf 40 " tobacco extract, one pint to one hundred 

 gallons of water, should be used as a spray. Four or five pounds of 

 soap should be added so as to make the solution spread and stick 

 better. This is a most satisfactory spray to use against the pest. 

 In case the extract cannot be obtained, kerosene emulsion diluted with 

 six parts of water may be used. 



Plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) . — In certain seasons and 

 localities this insect destroys fifty per cent or more of the crop. It attacks 

 the sweet cherry mainly, but is sometimes troublesome on sour varieties. 

 The adult is a small snout beetle about one quarter inch in length, 

 which hibernates in stone piles or fences, hedges, or adjoining wood- 

 lands. It emerges in spring just as the trees are blossoming, or a little 

 earlier. As soon as the fruit is formed, the female inserts its eggs under 

 •the skin of the cherry and makes a characteristic crescent-shaped cut 

 •beneath them. The eggs hatch in about five days, and the larvas are 

 the common white " worms " so often found in all stone fruits. 



Control. — Just after the blossoms fall the trees should be sprayed with 

 arsenate of lead, six to eight pounds to one hundred gallons of water. 

 The process should be repeated about ten days later. The cherry orchard 

 should not be located in the neighborhood of stone piles, rubbish heaps, 

 or woodlands. Avoiding such a location will be a better means of 

 obtaining freedom from the ravages of the plum curculio than will 

 spraying. , 



Cherry fruit-flies (Rhagoletis cingulata and Rhagoletis fausta). — These 

 insects are especially troublesome on sour cherries, although they are 

 rather common on all varieties. The adult emerges about the middle of 

 June, feeds on the surface of the foliage and fruit, and about two weeks 



