The high plain along the shore of Lake Ontario from the St. Lawrence River to the Niagara River, extending from the lake on the north from ten to fifteen miles inland, is the region of greatest possibilities for the cherry in New York. The climate of this great stretch of territory is nearly perfect for this fruit and the soils are sufficiently diversified to furnish a suitable habitat for any of the many varieties of either Sweet or Sour cherries. In the past there have been so many ups and downs in the cherry industry that fruit-growers in this favored belt have given more attention to other fruits but for the last decade, until the recent downward turn in the cherry market, the plantings have been greatly increased, both Sweet and Sour cherries finding favor.

Not unlike the Ontario shore in climate, but quite unlike it in its soils, is the shore of Lake Erie, the most westward topographical division of New York in which cherries are grown. The mainstay of this region is the grape, but, in seeking for a more diversified agriculture, Sour Cherry culture was introduced some twenty years ago and has become a thriving industry with prospects of continued growth. Here, as is so often the case in agriculture, credit must be given to some one leader for the development of a crop and the cherry orchards that dot the landscape for miles about the home of the late John Spencer speak eloquently of his leadership in this region.

A necessary accompaniment to a discussion of climate is a statement of the dates of blooming of the various sorts of cherries; for often, through selection with reference to this life event of the plant, injurious climatal influences may be escaped at blooming-time. In the accompanying table averages of the blooming dates of varieties of cherries for the years just past, 1912 to 1914, are given.

In making use of these dates, consideration must be given to the environment of the orchards at Geneva. The latitude of the Smith Astronomical Observatory, a quarter of a mile from the Station orchards, is 42° 52' 46.2"; the altitude of the orchards is from five hundred to five hundred and twenty-five feet above the sea level. The soil is a stiff and rather cold clay; the orchards lie about a mile west of Seneca Lake, a body of water forty miles in length and from one to three and one-half miles in width and more than six hundred feet deep. The lake has frozen over but a few times since the region was settled, over a hundred years ago, and has a very beneficial influence on the adjacent country in lessening the cold of winter and the heat of summer and in preventing early blooming.

The dates are those of full bloom. They were taken from trees grown under normal conditions as to pruning, distance apart, and as to all other factors which might influence the blooming period. An inspection of the table shows that there is a variation of several days between the time of full bloom of the different varieties of the same species. These differences can be utilized in selecting sorts to avoid injury from frost.

Table Showing Blooming Dates and Season of Ripening
Blooming dateSeason of ripening
MayEarlyMid-
season		Late
456789101112131415161718
P. avium
Bing**
Black Tartariang**
California Advance**
Centennial**
Cleveland**
Coe**
Dikeman**
Downer**
Eagle**
Early Purple**
Elkhorn**
Elton**
Florence**
Ida**
Kirtland**
Knight**
Lamaurie**
Lambert**
Lyons**
Mercer**
Mezel**
Napoleon**
Republican**
Rockport**
Schmidt**
Sparhawk**
Stuart**
Windsor**
Wood**
Yellow Spanish**
P. cerasus
Bourgueil**
Brusseler Braune**
Carnation**
Dyehouse**
Early Morello**
Early Richmond**
English Morello**
George Glass**
Heart-Shaped Weichsel**
King Amarelle**
Large Montmorency**
Louis Philippe**
Magnifique**
Montmorency**
Olivet**
Ostheim**
Sklanka**
Spüte Amarelle**
Suda**
Timme**
Vladimir**
P. avium × P. cerasus
Abbesse d'Oignies**
Double Natte**
Empress Eugenie**
Late Duke**
May Duke**
Nouvelle Royale**
Reine Hortense**
Royal Duke**

THE POLLINATION OF CHERRIES

We cannot complain in New York of much uncertainty in the setting of the cherry crop. Late spring frosts occasionally catch the blossoms of Sweet varieties but seldom those of the Sour sorts. Cold weather, especially if accompanied by wet weather, not unfrequently cuts short the cherry crop by preventing proper setting. There is, however, no general complaint of poor crops through self-sterility. In fact from the behavior of perfectly isolated trees in all parts of the State it would be premised that the cherry is most nearly self-fertile of all tree-fruits.

Yet there may be orchards or seasons in which cross-pollination cuts a figure, for Gardner[54], of the Oregon Station, found in experiments carried on by him in various parts of Oregon that many varieties of Sweet Cherries in the Pacific Coast environment are self-sterile. The work seems to have been very carefully done and the conclusions are worth reprinting in full, bearing in mind that they would be much modified under New York conditions. Gardener found:

"1. All the varieties of the Sweet Cherry tested are self-sterile. This self-sterility is in no case due to a lack of germinability of the pollen produced. On the other hand, the pollen of each of the varieties studied is capable of producing a set of fruit on the variety or varieties with which it is inter-fertile. The list includes Bing, Black Republican, Black Tartarian, Coe, Early Purple, Elton, Knight, Lambert, Major Francis, May Duke, Napoleon, Rockport, Waterhouse, Willamette, Windsor, Wood.