54 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



If, then, success depends upon deep, dry soil, if the ground 

 is not already in that condition it must be made so. More 

 usually depends upon the preparation of the ground before the 

 tree is planted than upon after cultivation. This does not mean 

 that the cherry costs more than other fruits used in canning. 

 The cultivated raspberr}' and blackberry require annual care. 

 The strawberry must be reset ever^^ year and requires constant 

 care to keep the weeds down. The plum is a short lived tree 

 and an uncertain bearer. But the cherry, once properly planted, 

 will yield fruit thirty or forty years often without further care. 



Is the cherry hardy enough for this latitude? It is true that 

 most of the sweet varieties are tender and will not endure our 

 winters. Central Maine is near the northern limit of fruit 

 growing and many fruits are liable to suffer from the severity 

 of our climate. The sour varieties and possibly the Blackheart 

 of the sweet varieties seem to be quite as hardy as the common 

 varieties of the apple, as the Baldwin or Greening. 



The sour cherr}' has been growing in my neighborhood for 

 more than eighty years and the Blackheart for fifty-five years, 

 apparently perfectly hardy and seem as thrifty today as fifty 

 years ago. The Governor Wood, Downer's Late and May 

 Duke, sweet varieties, have done fairly well in favorable situa- 

 tions but cannot be depended upon. 



Every set of buildings, whether on the farm or in a village, 

 should have shade trees near to give variety to the surroundings 

 and make them more attractive. There is a sort of a desolate 

 look where there is not a tree or shrub to break the monotony. 

 Now the cherry is a sort of a domestic tree. It delights to grow 

 near the buildings. The cellar, being so much deeper than 

 ordinary drains, furnishes excellent drainage for quite a little 

 distance. So also does the well. • The earth thrown out in dig- 

 ging th^ cellar furnishes a deep soil in which the roots of the 

 cherry tree readily penetrate. These seem to be ideal condi- 

 tions for the cherry. No better tree can be selected for such 

 shade trees than the cherr}' as it combines both the useful and 

 the ornamental. 



Fifty-five years ago my father planted several Blackheart 

 trees in the front yard of our dwelling. Two of our neighbors 

 having no shade trees in their front yards did the same. These 



