iSSi.] FRUIT -CULTURE. 507 



diest, the freest bearer, and its fruit is generally useful. When more room 

 can be afforded on the walls or in the open, the others may be confidently 

 added. 



Cherries 



are not often grown by amateurs with very small gardens ; yet there is 

 good reason for recommending that one or more trees should be planted. We 

 import Cherries, and they are to be had cheaply ; but they are, unlike the 

 imported Apples, very inferior to what we can raise ourselves. For placing 

 against a gable or other portion of the house, what more useful and ornamental 

 than a Cherry-tree ! In spring, the sheets of snow-white blossom which they 

 produce enchant us ; and when the hot days of summer come, the luscious 

 fruit assuages our thirst with juices wholesome and cooling. What better gift 

 could one give to a sick friend or loved child ? 



Their cultivation is simple. The tree will thrive in any not too heavy 

 garden -soil. Two feet of it on a dry bottom is sufficient. Fan-training is 

 best, and to secure a moderate fruitful growth, root lifting and pruning 

 should be resorted to, just as advised for the Apple. It is not a good plan to 

 lift and cut back strong roots some years old, for they are very apt to run far 

 away and become bare; and cutting hard back is almost sure to result in 

 paralysis, if not death. To make sure of having the roots well in hand with- 

 out any risk, proper care should be taken of them from the first. Cherries 

 in good soil grow rapidly, sometimes too much so ; so it is good for them 

 to be lifted and to get their roots regulated a bit. Once in every two or 

 three years will be sufficient. When the space to be covered is large and the 

 subsoil very good, they may be left alone at the root; but, generally speaking, 

 it is much better to get them into good condition from the first. 



Excepting Morellos, they should be pinched and pruned on the same prin- 

 ciple as Apples. Some of the kinds are apt to throw out occasional shoots, 

 strong enough to swallow up the resources of the whole tree. Plums often do 

 the same. "When these shoots are not wanted, they should be rubbed oft' at 

 once ; but when suited for filling a bare place, they ought to be pinched after 

 they have grown a foot, and the resulting shoots pinched again. This will 

 check the tendency to steal their neighbours' means. 



When there is room for only one tree, by all means let that tree be Maij 

 Duke. All things considered it is the best, and will thrive in any position, 

 unless that is very much exposed. The fruit is always finer, however, on 

 south aspects. 



The next one we recommend is the Morello, and this is a cooking Cherry. 

 Its main recommendation is, that it fruits profusely in the very worst of aspects 

 — due north. If there are any dwarf walls facing north or east, the most 

 profitable things the owners of very small gardens could plant to cover them 

 are black and red Currants — -especially black ones — for they actually do better 

 in such positions than anywhere else. But if there is a high wall — too high 

 for Currants to cover — then a deep border should be made, and a Morello 

 Cherry-tree planted. They are best on the common Cherry -stock for a high 

 wall ; but if for dwarf walls, they are better on the Mahaleb. Whether small 

 or tall trees are grown, the management of the top is the same, and differs 

 altogether from what is suitable for the May Duke. Apples, Pears, Plums, 

 and May Duke Cherries should all be trained, pinched, and pruned on the 

 same principle. Morellos, black Currants, and Peach-trees — we ought to add 

 Apricots and Gooseberries — bear their best fruit on last season's wood. There- 

 fore we ought to retain tnough of young wood all over the plants of thtse 



