CHERRIES IN MARCH 



of their great and famous war, invited the whole cabinet to 

 spend an afternoon watching the cherry trees in bloom ! 



From the blossom of the springtime all through summer 

 and autumn follows one continuous spell of hard work. Day 

 after day an endless stream of food is entering the stem ; 

 night after night it is condensed and arranged and repacked, 

 until, when the leaves fall, the period of slow and quiet pre- 

 paration begins again. 



Under certain conditions it is possible for gardeners to 

 modify the life of a cherry, and to make it bloom much 

 earlier, but this is only possible within well-defined limits. It 

 is no use trying to force it to bloom before January. It micst 

 have a quiet time after summer. But by beginning in Janu- 

 ary and by very carefully managing the temperature, it can 

 be made to produce fruit quite early in the year. 



The following account is given to show how very carefully 

 gardeners have to work when they upset the ordinary course 

 of Nature's events. The plant is taken into a greenhouse, 

 and the temperature kept as follows : — 



Not merely strong, forcing heat, but a little judicious cold, 

 is necessary to get out the flowers and to ripen the fruit. ^ 

 Most flowers have very much the same general history as 



^ Schimper, Pflanzengeograj[)hie. The account is based on the works of 

 Pynaert, Sachs, Askenasy, etc. 



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