SouE Chekkies. 481 



only when all the conditions are present, such as the proper soil, 

 excellent care and fertilizing, ability to secure pickers, and access 

 to good markets. One could probably not rely upon the open mar- 

 ket for the disposal of a very large planting of sour cherries. He 

 should have access to one or more canning factories. It is a fact 

 that more than half of all the orchards, of whatever kind, which 

 are conceived in expectation and planted with enthusiasm, turn out 

 to be profitless. The fault lies somewhere under the owner's hat. 

 Persons who fail to grow other fruits with profit, may also expect 

 to fail with cherries. Yet I know of no fruit which, upon the 

 testimony of both producers and consumers, offers a greater reward 

 than sour cherries. The public seems to have acquired a taste for 

 the canned product, and there is every indication that this demand- 

 will increase. 



The labor of picking cherries, which is a bugbear to so many 

 who would like to plant the fruit, is really no more onerous than 

 the picking of raspberries or currants. If one lives where pickers 

 cannot be had with certainty, and in sufficient numbers, cherries 

 should not be planted. Parties who hire pickers by the piece, pay 

 three-fourths cent or a cent a pound. The trees must be gone over 

 twice, at intervals, and generally three times, and it is important 

 thai; all those fruits which are ripe, and no others, should be secured 

 at each gathering. It is more difficult to see that this is done on 

 cherry trees than on berry bushes, and for this reason some growers 

 prefer to hire pickers by the day. When picking for canners, the 

 fruit may be allowed to become much riper then when it is to be 

 sold in the open market, and it is not necessary to exercise so much 

 care to preserve the stems upon the fruits. The English Morello 

 drops easily when ripe, and growers sometimes shake off the 

 cherries — if designed for canning — onto sheets or, if the trees are 

 small, into a Johnson curculio catcher. If cherries are carefully 

 hand-picked for the general market, the stems being left on, a 

 pound of fruit measures about a quart and a quarter, but as the 

 fruit is generally picked for canning, a pound is about a quart. 



Insects and diseases are not serious upon the sour cherries. The 

 curculio does not often attack the midseason and late varieties — 

 such as Montmorency and Morrello — seriously, particularly if the 

 number of trees is somewhat large. In occasional years, however, 

 this insect becomes a scourge. The grower must watch his fruits 

 closely after the blossoms fall, and if the curculio injuries become 



31 



