15 



PLUMS. 



The plum crop has been small in the college orchard and many 

 varieties have rotted badly on the tree before fully ripe. Owing to 

 the cool weather, the quality has not been up to the average of former 

 years. 



The curculio has been more than usually abundant, but notwith- 

 standing that nothing has been done to destroy it, those trees that 

 blossomed and set fruit produced a moderate crop. The black wart 

 upon the branches seems the most serious obstacle to the growth of 

 the plum. We are making experiments with suggested remedies for 

 this disease and hope, another season, to report something of value 

 in this line. In the mean time, every grower should cut away all 

 warts as soon as they break through the bark and burn them, for, 

 with every wart destroyed early in the season, millions of spores may 

 be prevented which, under favorable conditions, would produce warts 

 upon other branches. Vigorous growth obtained by good cultivation 

 will, in a measure, prevent the attack of this disease. The following 

 is a- list of varieties growing upon our grounds. The old varieties 

 are growing in the college orchard and the newer kinds in the Experi- 

 ment plot. 



Lombard, Washington, Wild Goose, Yellow Egg, Imperial Gage, 

 Green Gage, Coe's Golden, Smith Orleans, Bradshaw, McLaughlen, 

 Jefferson, Gen. Hand, Reine Claude de Bary, Prince Englebert, 

 Pond's Seedling, Victoria, Grand Duke, Niagara, Peach. Ogden or 

 Ogan, Kelsey, Mariana, Quackenbos, Duanes, Lawrence, Simooni. 



CHERRIES. 



. Owing to the increase of insect enemies and the ravages of birds 

 but little success has attended the cultivation of this fruit in New 

 England. Unless a large number of trees are grown, the 

 birds get all of the fruit, and should any escape, the larvae of the 

 plum curculio is so abundant as to render them almost worthless. 

 The question, how to prevent the ravages of birds is a serious 

 one, yet, considering the great benefit such birds as the robin, cat- 

 bird, etc., render in destroying noxious insects, we shall take the 

 ground that they do more good than harm and urge the planting of 

 more trees that they may have a due share of the fruit and leave 

 some for the grower. 



The prevention of insect injuries is a more serious problem. The 

 remedies, applied for the destruction of the curculio on the plum, of 



