PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 129 



Q. At what age will Tartarian come into bearing? 



A. About four or five years. Not quite so soon as May Duke, if they are 

 on Mahaleb stock, because it does not bring them into bearing so soon. 



Q. What about Governor Wood? 



A. The great trouble with Governor Wood is that it rots so badly. 

 That is one point in setting an orchard, which I forgot, the liability to 

 rot. Take, for instance, Hale's Early peach. I have had those on top of 

 a dry knoll, where the}' would not rot at all, and on a level they would 

 ^11 rot. Just so with any kind of fruit. Get it up on high ground and you 

 won't be troubled with rot. 



Mr. Juan Hess: I wished to speak more particularly of the time of 

 coming into bearing of Black Tartarian. My experience has been fifteen 

 years. I have understood that it would not bear until fifteen years, but 

 would bear ever^^ year after that. 



Mr. Cook: I think that is a mistake. I have never found anv difficulty 

 with its coming into bearing after it was four or five years old. But of 

 course those I speak of were worked on Mahaleb stock. 



Mr. Hamilton: I think that the experience of our lake shore coasts 

 north is not like that of this gentleman, that Black Tartarian, Yellow 

 Spanish, Governor Wood, and May Duke all take longer to come into 

 bearing than the gentleman has mentioned. I think, however, that they 

 are largely on Mazzard stock, and that perhaps is the cause. I am 

 glad that the gentleman called attention to the question of stocks. The 

 Mazzard stock will throw up a much larger and quicker growth, there- 

 fore I think that the nurserymen have largely grown their stock on the 

 Mazzard, and I think that the slow bearers are largely due to this cause. 

 I am very glad that growers have begun to notice the diiference, and will 

 hereafter ask for their cherries to be budded on Mahaleb stock, as I 

 think they always should be. 



Mr. Morrill: They don't sprout from the root so badly, do they? 



Mr. Hamilton: I think not at all. The old variety, grown from 

 sprouts, always spread badly, but I have not noticed that they spread so 

 much from Mazzard. Mahaleb doubtless is the stock upon which to bud 

 cherries, to get fruit. It dwarfs the tree a little. With us English Morello 

 is a very slow grower, but I think we allowed it to come into bearing too 

 «oon, and I believe that hurt it. With the experience we have had, we 

 would use Kichmond, Montmorency, and English Morello, the three great 

 market cherries. That would be my choice. I have named them in the 

 succession in which they would ripen. 



Mr. Cook: In regard to this, perhaps we have no better authority in 

 the United States, on trees, than Mr. Hill, and he says he is using 

 Mahaleb stock for cherries. 



Mr. Smith: I call Mr. Cook's attention to one question — whether 

 there was any objection to May Duke cherry, and if so, what? It seems to 

 me there are several things. One is, that the fruit ripens unevenly; 

 sometimes there will be one limb on a tree that will be half green when 

 the balance of the tree is ripe. This is peculiar to that variety. I don't 

 know that it is a serious objection. But there is another thing, black 

 knot. I would like information in regard to it from some of our scientists 

 liere. It is a thing peculiar, with me, to May Duke. I have some black 

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