PU INDFA LLS. 



313 



cherry ( Pniiuis Virgiitiana ), then the wild plum 

 {^Primus Americana), followed by the wild black cherry 

 {^Priinus serotina), and the cultivated European plum 

 (^Pmniis domeslica). Near Ames, Iowa, and La Crosse 

 Wisconsin, I have seen large trees of Primus serotina 

 totally destroyed by the fungus. But in every locality 

 where Prumts Virginiana grows the black-knot is al- 

 most certain to accompany it. Not so with Primus 

 serotina. There are many localities in both Illinois 

 and Missouri where it does not occur on that herb, but 

 when it does occur it brings destruction about in a short 

 time. In Texas, I have found it very severe on Prunits 

 chicasa. In Iowa, I have not seen it on that herb, nor 

 does it occur on the cultivated cherry so far as I know; 

 on the other hand it has been found on the apricot, here 

 at Ames. Should 

 it become at all 

 common on that 

 plant it would 

 become a serious 

 question in some 

 parts of the 

 United States. 

 Why it has ap- 

 peared on the 

 apricot on the 

 college grounds, 

 no other reason 

 can be suggested 

 than that of se- 

 vere pruning, 

 and that possi- 

 bly it may have 

 been carried over 

 from plum trees. 

 It would seem 

 advisable there- 

 fore for those 

 who remove 

 black-knot with 

 a knife to be 

 somewhat cau- 

 tious. If once 

 common on the 

 apricot may it 

 not also adapt 



itself to the peach as it has on the cultivated cherry 

 and plum ?^L. H. Pammel, loina Agricultural College. 



An Old Maze. — The diagram shows the maze on St. 

 Catherine's Hill, Winchester, England, from a plan 

 made of it in the year 1710. The maze has been recut 

 in the turf several times since then, but the plan is un- 

 altered. St. Catherine's Hill, called "Hills" by the 

 boys of Winchester school, is about a mile from the 

 college. On holidays the boys used to go thither, walking 

 two and two, with the prefects or senior boys on the 

 watch to see that they did not stray. The top of Hills 

 is nearly encircled by a broad deep entrenchment, of 

 Danish or British origin, forming a boundary which no 



junior was allowed to pass. Within this boundary the 

 boys amused themselves until it was time for them to go 

 home again. One of their amusements consisted in 

 treading the maze, which has existed from time imme- 

 morial behind the clump of trees on the top of Hills. 

 The tradition is, that it was cut in the turf by a boy of 

 the school, name and date unknown, who was kept back 

 when the rest went home for the holidays as a punish- 

 ishment for some breach of school discipline. Some 

 have identified him with the nameless boy, who, being 

 chained to a pillar, or according to another legend, to 

 the tree called Domum tree on the way to Hills, during 

 the holidays, wrote the well known song " Dulce 

 Domum " and then died. These legends must be of 

 some antiquity, for they are mentioned in the " Gentle- 

 man's M a g a - 



Plan ,f ikc Laiyniitk c„ CaM^rme ffiU /7/11 



An Old Maze. 



zine " for the 

 year 1796. There 

 was some sort of 

 a maze called 

 ' ' Rosamon d e s - 

 boure" (Rosa- 

 mond's Bower) 

 in the garden of 

 the college a s 

 early as the year 

 1410, from which 

 this maze may 

 have been taken 

 But nothing is 

 certainly known 

 about it ; nor do 

 I know more 

 than I have al- 

 ready told about 

 this very inter- 

 esting and an- 

 cient maze on 

 Hills. — Thomas 



F. KiSLEY. 



Peach Tree 

 Borer. — It is the 



general belief 

 that this borer 

 works only at 

 the base of the 



peach tree or other trees on which it works. Having 

 examined many trees and finding the larvae as often on 

 the main branches four or five feet from the ground, I 

 have concluded that the female must lay her eggs as 

 often in the higher portions of the tree as she does near 

 its base. Saunders says ;* " Nor does the insect always 

 confine itself to the base of the tree ; occasionally it 

 attacks the trunk farther up, and sometimes the forks of 

 the limbs. " I do not believe that the larvze pupate in the 

 soil under the tree, but in the burrows or crevices under 

 the bark. I have found pupa in their cocoons in the 

 crevices of the bark three and four feet from the soil. 



* Insects Injurious to Fruits, p. 193. 



