TO CURE THE BURSTING OP THE CHERRY TREE. 



BY PROFESSOR TURNER, ILLINOIS COLLEGE. 



[The following communication, from our 

 valued correspondent in Illinois, will, we 

 have no doubt, be found of the greatest pos- 

 sible interest to fruit growers all over the 

 west. The cherry, which thrives so well, 

 with the least possible care, in most parts 

 of the middle and eastern states, fails al- 

 most wholly in the west. Professor Tur- 

 ner gives the first satisfactory explanation 

 of the cause, and suggests what we should 

 conceive the efficient remedy. Ed.] 



Dear Sir — In a former communication, I 

 promised to say a few words on what I sup- 

 posed to be the cause of that most fatal of 

 all maladies to the cherry tree in the west, — 

 the bursting of the bark on the trunk and 

 larger limbs. Were I called to sit on a 

 coroner's inquest, over the dead body of 

 such a cherry tree, I should have no hesi- 

 tation, in the present state of my know- 

 ledge, in giving my verdict as follows : 



" DEATH BY TIGHT LACING." 



And it is at precisely this point that I 

 think the knife of the surgeon and pomolo- 

 gist could be more advantageously applied, 

 to the relief of both animal and vegetable 

 ilature, than to any other. The remedy is 

 simple : 



"cut THE CORSET STRINGS." 



Let us consider a little. One writer 

 prescribes blue clay as a specific ; another, 

 gravel and sand ; a third, thin, poor soil ; 

 a fourth, blue grass sward ; and a fifth, 

 some old, shaded, neglected part of the 

 garden, in hard uncultivated ground, &c. 

 &c. Now it is apparent that the effect of 

 all these is the same in one respect, and 

 probably the most important one, is one and 

 the same, viz., they all tend to diminish the 



amount of asceyiding sap^ and retard the 

 growth of the tree ; and so far forth, they 

 are all, doubtless, beneficial. The addi- 

 tional effect of iron in the blue clay, and of 

 silex in the sand, may have some tonic in- 

 fluence on the tree itself. Again, others 

 have shaded the trunks from the hot sun in 

 summer. But it is believed, that where 

 the trunk alone has been shaded, the reme- 

 dy has as often failed as it has succeeded. 

 But where the whole ground is shaded by 

 a building or fence the effect would, of 

 course, be to a certain extent the same as 

 above. 



I believe, also, it is noticed that on the 

 richest soils, this malady is most universal, 

 and. most destructive ; insomuch that I do 

 not believe there is a single sound and 

 healthful cherry tree, of the finer sort, on 

 the rich prairie lands of Illinois 15 years 

 old, within 100 miles of where I write, ex- 

 cept on my own grounds. If so, I have 

 looked and inquired in vain for it. The 

 usual course of things is this : A man pro- 

 cures fine cherry trees from the nursery ; 

 he sets them out. They grow admirably 

 for some years, — say from 4 to 10. No- 

 thing could be more thrifty, or apparently 

 more healthy. All at once the bark bursts, 

 and peels off from the trunk and larger 

 limbs, sometimes half round the tree ; more 

 generally on the southwestern side. The 

 tree often continues to grow with perfect 

 health, and with immense vigor, on the 

 sound side; but soon bursts, and bursts 

 again, until it is utterly destroyed. 



These and other facts led me to think the 

 injury local and mechanical — not general 

 or constitutional. 



