THE 



'Canadian Horticulturist 



Vol. XIX. 



1896. 



No. 8. 



THREE BIGARREAU CHERRIES. 



I HE cherry season in ihe Niagara District, which 

 began about the loth of June with the Early 

 Purple (Fig. 970) and closed about the loth of 

 July with Windsor and Montmorency, has been 

 one of the best seasons on record. Frequently 

 the cherry rot sets in, and favored by occasional 

 showers almost ruins the whole crop, giving 

 much work on the assorting tables, and little 

 satisfaction to the grower. The very finest look- 

 ing varieties, such as Napoleon and Yellow 

 Spanish are most subject to this fungus ; they 

 grow in close bunches and this habit of fruiting favors the rapid spread of the 

 rot from cherry to cherry. Then again the aphis appears at times in numbers 

 innumerable, and renders the leaves and fruit sticky and disgusting in appear- 

 ance. This year, however, the dry weather has been a disguised blessing in 

 preventing fungus growth of every kind, while other conditions have destroyed 

 the aphis. Nothing, therefore, interfered with the perfect maturity of a magni- 

 ficent crop, which has probably surpassed any previous record. 



The three largest cherries of the season, grown at Maplehurst, are Yellow 

 Spanish, Napoleon, and Monstreuse de Mezel. 



One immense tree of the first named, thirty years planted, yielded this 

 season three hundred and sixty quarts, while an instance is reported of a 

 Napoleon yielding four-hundred and fifty quarts ! The Monstreuse de Mezel is 



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