90 



JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



Fig, 15. 



which, when ripe, separate and 

 fall off from the top, one by one, 

 in the form of spores. These 

 spores are so light as to be read- 

 ily carried about in the air from <^,,:;Z: 

 tree to tree, and thus the evil is (0^'^ 

 rapidly spread about through the 

 orchard. Fig. 15 is a represent- 

 ation of two fruiting threads of 

 this fungus before the spores 

 have begun to fall away, magni- 

 fied 250 diameters. The en- 

 graving is reproduced from a late 

 report of the Geneva Experiment 

 Station. 



Since the spores can only develop in a moist atmosphere, it is 

 quite evident that, if we could keep our cherries perfectly dry, there 

 would be no rot. But, as this is impossible, we must endeavor to 

 find some other means of preventing the evil. The spores have 

 great vitality and preserve their generative powers from one season 

 to another. The old ripe cherries which dry up and hang upon the 

 trees during the winter, as well as the fallen cherries beneath the 

 trees, are the means of carrying the fungus through to the following 

 season. Any mode by which these could be destroyed would be 

 helpful, whether by burning or by allowing the pigs to run in 

 the orchard, so as to eat up all that drop. Probably the most 

 reliable method of combatting the evil will be found in the universal 

 remedy of spraying the trees with the Bordeaux mixture as soon as 

 possible after the blossoms have fallen. 



Plum Leaf or Shot Hole Fungus {Septoria Cerasma). — 

 The leaves of cherry and plum trees are often affected by this 

 fungus, the appearance of which is well represented in fig. 16. 



The holes are frequently so round and even that they awaken 

 considerable curiosity on the part of the observer as to their cause, 

 but lately the mystery has been explained by Prof. Scribner, who 

 says that they are caused by a fungus which is very widely distrib- 

 uted throughout the States east of the Mississippi. Though not a 

 very serious pest, it often inflicts considerable injury both upon the 

 cherry and the plum trees, by interfering with the proper function 



