10 THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



size in a plant, or in the parts of a plant, is a very reliable character when 

 proper allowances have been made for environment. 



Habit of growth, unlike size, varies but little with changing conditions 

 and thus becomes a most important means of distinguishing species and 

 varieties and not infrequently sets the seal and sign of desirability for an 

 orchard cherry. More than any other character, habit of growth gives 

 what is called " aspect " to a cherry tree. Thus, a species or a variety 

 may be upright, spreading, round-topped, drooping or weeping in habit of 

 growth; the head may be open or dense and may be formed by a central 

 shaft with several whorls of branches or by three or four trunk-like stems 

 each with its scaffolding branches. The trees may grow rapidly or slowly 

 and may be long-lived or short-lived. The trunks may be short and stocky, 

 or long and slender, straight or crooked, gnarled or smooth, these characters 

 often determining whether a cherry is manageable or unmanageable in the 

 orchard. 



The degree of hardiness is a very important diagnostic character for 

 groups of cherries and often wholly indicates their value for agriculture. 

 Thus, the varieties of Prunus avium are but little hardier than the peach 

 while those of Prunus cerasus are as hardy or hardier than the apple. The 

 range of varieties as to hardiness falls within that of the species and it is 

 interesting to note that in Europe, where the wild Prunus avium is very 

 common, in the many centuries since the fruit has been under domestication, 

 a cultivated variety hardier than the wild Sweet Cherry has not been 

 developed. Cherries are designated in the technical descriptions as hardy, 

 half-hardy and tender. 



Productiveness, age of bearing, and regularity of bearing are distinctive 

 and valuable characters of orchard cherries but not of wild cherries. The 

 care given the tree greatly influences fruitfulness, yet the quantity of fruit 

 produced is often a helpful means of identifying a variety and is a charac- 

 ter that must always be considered by the plant-breeder. Age of bearing 

 and regularity of bearing are most important characters with the pome 

 fruits, the apple, in particular, but while worth considering with the 

 drupes are of relatively little value, all drupaceous fruits coming in bearing 

 at about the same time for the species and all bearing regularly, as a 

 rule, unless interfered with by some outside agency preventing the setting 

 or causing the dropping of fruit. 



Immunity and susceptibility to diseases and insects are valuable 

 taxonomic characters of both species and varieties of cultivated cherries. 



