THE KANSAS CHERRY. 35 



And now we come to the time of most interest to the cherry grower 



— the gathering and marketing — in which, especially the latter, I have 

 had but little exj^erience, as my orchard is just beginning to bear. 

 But as I hare given some thought and attention to this part of it, and 

 have read everything on the subject I could find, so as to know what 

 to do when I get a crop, I will give an outline of my gleanings from 

 others. 



The cherry should not be gathered until fully ripe and then only 

 when it is dry, as, if it is gathered when wet or even damp from rain 

 or dew, it will quickly spoil. In all cases the fruit should be care- 

 fully handled, and the stem should be left attached to the fruit, as the 

 removal of the stem from the fruit will break the skin, allow the juice 

 to ran out, and quickly injure the fruit. All defective berries should 

 be thrown out, as they will injure the sale of the remaining fruit, and 

 at this time it pays to pack only the best fruit and to put it up in a 

 manner that will be attractive, as there is about as much in the pack- 

 ing of the fruit toward selling it as in the fruit itself, perhaps more. 

 Cherries should be packed in small shallow- boxes or baskets, which in 

 no case should hold over one gallon, and handled so that they will not 

 bruise or mash. As to the marketing of cherries away from home, all 

 the questions of freight charges, commissions and commission men, 

 and of markets, applicable to other fruits, apply to cherries. I have 

 given this but little thought, for the reason that our home market has 

 never been half supplied with cherries, and I believe that it will be 

 many years before I shall have to go away from home to find a mar- 

 ket for my cherries. 



WILL IT PAY TO PLANT CHERRIES ? 



By G. W. Hopkins, Springfield, Mo. 



Most every one in starting a new place will set out a few trees, but 

 orchards exclusively of cherries are few and far between. There 

 seems to be only two varieties that are worth planting in this locality 



— the Early Richmond and English Morello. The Montmorency, it 

 is said, does well, but few have fruited it. 



Sweet cherries are not worth planting here, as they are very tender 

 in the bud, and possibly one year in ten they may not be killed. If 

 they are not killed in the winter or early spring, when they begin to 

 ripen, the rains will crack the fruit and the birds destroy the crop. 

 The curculio is very destructive to the cherry. 



There is no question but cherries will pay well in south Missouri 

 if there was any certainty of a crop. The Early Richmond comes in 

 before strawberries are gone, and we have the whole southern country 



