76 THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



but with the expectation that the cion will take root and eventually the 

 tree will stand on its own roots. ^ We cannot believe, however, that graft- 

 ing can ever take the place of budding as a nursery practice or that it can 

 be profitably used except in very exceptional cases. 



Buds in propagating are usually taken from nursery stock, a practice 

 of decades, and there is no wearing out of varieties. Old varieties have 

 lost none of the characters accredited to them a century, or several 

 centuries, ago by pomological writers. Nor does it seem to matter, in 

 respect to trueness to type, whether the buds be taken from a vigorous, 

 young stripling, a mature tree in the hey-day of life or some struggling, 

 lichen-covered ancient — all alike reproduce the variety. The hypothesis 

 that fruit-trees degenerate or, on the other hand, that they may be improved 

 by bud-selection, finds no substantiation in this fruit. There seems to 

 be no limit to the number of times its varieties can be propagated true 

 to type from buds. 



CHERRY CLIMATES AND CHERRY SOILS 



Climate and soil have been the chief determinants of location for 

 cherry-growing in New York. Both Sweet Cherries and Sour Cherries 

 are profoundly influenced by the natural environment in which they are 

 grown — Sweet Cherries rather more so than any other fruit, either climate 

 or soil dictating whether they may or may not be grown. 



The Sour Cherry is at home in a great variety of climates, the vagaries 

 of weather affecting it but little. It is probably the hardiest to cold, 

 in some of its varieties at least, of all our tree fruits, thriving almost to 

 the Arctic Circle and from there southward, in some of its forms, quite 

 to the limits of the Temperate Zone. The blossoming season is relatively 

 late so that fruit-setting is seldom prevented by spring frosts. Yet, even 

 with this hardy fruit, it is necessary to take thought of heat and cold in 

 growing commercial crops; for spring frosts may wither the bloom or 



' " I wiJl here say that one year with another we succeed as well in grafting on Mazzard roots as we 

 do with pear on pear roots, and nearly as well as with apple on apple roots. In some cases since the 

 appearance of the graft-box fungus our success has been more complete with the cherry than with the 

 apple. This success is due to careful compliance with two main guiding rules, founded on the nature 

 of cherry wood: (i) Keep the scions dry until used. If given an opportunity they will absorb water 

 enough to start the buds and form a callus at the base. In this condition they will fail to unite with the 

 root. (2) After grafting, pack in boxes with sand or moss and store in a root cave, kept uniformly cool 

 by opening at night and keeping closed during the day. If the buds start prior to the time of planting 

 in nursery they will usually fail to grow. It may prove useful to add, that the sprouts from deeply set 

 trees on Mazzard root will always be true to the varieties planted, and the surface roots can be utilized 

 for root cuttings, as noted on a future page." la. Sta. Bid. 10:424. 1890. 



