108 THE GARDENER. [March 



as in the case of dwarfs, with this exception, that if grafted or budded 

 low down upon the stem, the leading shoot must be trained up to the 

 desired height against a stake, after which the pruning and training 

 are the same in every particular. 



The management of the Cherry as a standard is exceedingly simple. 

 The tree should have a clear stem of from 3 to 4 feet, and for 

 this purpose it will be necessary to cut the leader down to within 6 

 inches of the desired height. If a clean stem is desired, it will be as 

 well to remove all the buds up to the height desired, leaving only those 

 intended to form branches. The following year, if the tree is in 

 vigorous health, it will produce from four to eight nice strong shoots. 

 One of these may be selected as a leader, and five or six of the 

 others left to form the tree. The leader may be cut back to a foot 

 length, and the side shoots to 15 inches in the case of moderate- 

 growing varieties ; whereas in the case of vigorous-growing sorts, 

 these lengths may be increased by G inches or thereabouts. The 

 year following, all the shoots necessary to constitute the head of the 

 tree will be formed, so that it will only be necessary to thin out super- 

 fluous branches where not needed, and encourage fruit-bearing wood 

 and the production of spurs. By simply following this method year 

 after year, the results will prove far more satisfactory than where an 

 elaborate system of pruning has been adopted. In the management of 

 the Cherry as a standard, the cultivator should aim to have the branches 

 distant at least one foot from each other, so as to allow a free cir- 

 culation of air, not only for the ripening of the wood, but also for the 

 better colouring and flavouring of the fruit. 



The summer management of the Cherry consists in shortening back 

 to about 3 inches all shoots made during the growing season which 

 are not required to form branches. Those intended for this purpose 

 ought to be laid loosely against the wall to protect them from being 

 broken. I prefer performing this operation about the middle of July, 

 and only once for all, as I find better and riper spurs are formed in 

 this way than in the case of trees pinched three or four times during 

 the season. In the case of the Morello, however, I never summer 

 prune at all, unless I find there is a superfluity of wood which would 

 not get thoroughly ripened, in which case I thin out a few of the worst 

 shoots to facilitate the ripening process. The less cutting in summer 

 there is, the better choice of wood in winter for furnishing the tree. 



James M'Millan. 

 (To be continued.) 



