1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



II 



and what we call Royal Ann. This last, which is 

 probably the Napoleon Bigarreau, is the most pop- 

 ular clierry on this coast, anil brings the highest 

 price of all the old sorts. It i.s of immense size, 

 very beautiful and delicious, and bears shipment 

 better tlian any othe-r cherry, with probably one 

 exception. That exception is a cherry of the largest 

 size, gliSsy black, very delicious, and the firmi-st 

 fleshed clicrry I ever saw. Its time of ripening is 

 two w< eks later than Royal Ann. It brought 

 twenty-five cents per pound. The tree is vcty 

 handsome, a rapid grower, very prolific, and appears 

 to be perfectly healthy. It is a seedling raised by 

 Mr. Seth Luelling, of Milwaukee, one of our 

 oldest and most reliable nurserymen, and the Presi- 

 dent of the Oregon State Horticultural Society. 

 This clierry has been named by said Society, the 

 " Luelling," in honor of its originator ; he has other 

 fine seedlings, Mr. (jr. W. Walling, of Oswego, has 

 also raised some magniticent seedlings, but I am not 

 at present able to give you a description of them. 

 The cherry crop this season brought from five to 

 twenty-five cents per pound ; tli« average was about 

 eight cents. For stocks we use the Mazzard, Ma- 

 haleb, Seedlings, and the native wild cherry (Pru- 

 nus Cerasus.) The latter makes an excellent stock, 

 the grafts uniting well and growing rapidly. It has 

 one objection, it suckers badly. Tlie ilazzard does 

 tolerably well. The Mahaleb is preferred by those 

 who have used it most ; it dwarf's to some extent 

 and never suckers. I leave the Plum to mv next. 



For I be Western Pomologist. 



Inaecta Inimical to tlie Frnit Grower. 



By W. H. W., n.^RTFOKD Co.. Conn. 



That the fruitgrower of to-day, has a much great- 

 er number and varictj' of in.sect and other enemies 

 to contend with than in former days, is an ackno-wl- 

 edged fact; and that the}- are constantl3-increa.sing, is 

 the general out-cr}' of cultivators. Why this, and 

 from whence do they come ? are questions often 

 asked, and as worthy of free discussion by all inter- 

 ested. 



In a new settled territory, and fruitgrowing is in 

 its infancy, and plantations are small and far apart 

 or isolated, but few insect enemies are known for 

 many years, unless the trees &c., are brouglit from 

 some locality where thej' became infested, and the 

 germs were brought with them. Usually in new 

 countries, fruits native to the section, are mostly 

 made to answer the turn, or they are started from 

 seeds ; these have, usually, few observed enemies ; 

 but in the course of progress these fruits bcfcome 

 unsatisfactory, or a different class are desired; set- 

 tlements become more dense, and tlie local supply 

 is insufficient, or from some other cause it becomes 

 desirable to import fruits from abroatt ; with these 



trees, vines, &c., come concealed enemies, in the 

 shape of eggs, larvae, &c., which are not discovered 

 till they have obtained a strong foot-hold ; in this 

 way tluy become natuiali- ed adventurers. The in- 

 creased planting and c> nc ntration of fruit orchards 

 naturally tends to draw together; native insects, 

 which perhaps have previously subsisted on other 

 descriptions of food. Ti.e fruit orcliard furnishing 

 them more congenial food, and in abundance, fa- 

 vors their rapid mat iirity, development and multipli- 

 cation ; in this way they become more observable, 

 as they interfere with our interests, and being more 

 concentrated, their destructivene.ss is also more ob- 

 servable and felt. Fruits uncongenial to the climate 

 and soil, or those deteriorated in health, etc., from 

 forcing or unnatural propagation, furnish a con- 

 venient and congenial nidus for propagation, and 

 sending out colonies ; for it is well known that un- 

 healthy plants, or trees, are more attractive, appar- 

 ently, if not in reality, than vigorous and healthy 

 ones. 



A large proportion of our insect foes are foreign- 

 ers, adventurers from the source of imiiortation of 

 our various fruits, etc., and have become naturalized 

 residents. These foes are constantly being intro- 

 duced with our foreign importations of trees, &c., or 

 come in vessels, and are brought on shore in some 

 form, perliaps only a few eggs, or a single pair of 

 the perfect insects, larvie, &c.; these flud a conven- 

 ient resting place, are unobserved, perhaps un- 

 known ; soou they spread, in some out-of-the-way 

 corner, and by degrees, spread from community to 

 community, till they occupy a wide-spread territory; 

 all owing, perhaps, to a little negligence of the cul- 

 tivator, who might have destroyed them when first 

 discovered, by a little forethought and trouble. 

 Every destructive insect has its counter enemy, 

 known or unknown ! Sometimes these canibals 

 spread with the insect they prey upon, and hold 

 them in clieck ; but some of our adventurers come 

 without their natural foes, and when they get a foot- 

 liold they increase and spread rapidly ; these can 

 only be held in subjection by great vigilance and 

 much labor. 



At the present time it has come to be, in all fruit 

 growing sections where long cultivated, that every 

 variety of fruit trees, vines, Ac, has its insect ene- 

 mies ; and some of them many, often so many as to 

 destroy crops of a season, over considerable tracts. 

 What shall be done to rid us of these destructive 

 pe.sts, so that we can obtain good crops and free our- 

 selves of these enemies ? comes up to us from all quar- 

 ters where good fruit is known. If we find a place 

 free of these enemies and begin fruit culture with 

 exultant expectations, a few seasons suffices to dis- 

 pel these expectations and blast our hopes ; for, has 

 not with our increased and concentrated plantations 

 invited and concentrated a horde of foes, we little 

 dreamed as possible in so short a time? 



It was my intent to mention some of the foes of 

 some of our common fruits; but I find that my 

 space will not admit [at this time of any further 

 remarks. 



