THE KANSAS CHERRY. 37 



CHERRIES FOR PROFIT. 



By J. P. SiNNOCK, Moberly, Mo. 



Cherries are something the birds like very much; children also eat 

 them with great relish. When a boy, I remember the old cherry 

 orchard of Morellos, sprouting in every fence corner on my father's 

 farm. 



In those days we never thought of selling cherries. They were 

 very plentiful, and the birds had great feasts among the branches; the 

 neighbors also received a great many. 



The cherry is propagated by budding on the Mahaleb or Mazzard 

 stocks, which are mostly imported from Europe, planted in the 

 nursery rows, and budded in the following September. The buds take 

 readily on Mahaleb when worked in September. We always use 

 Mahaleb on account of its late growth in the fall, and it never sprouts 

 from the roots. 



There is no work in the nursery that I like better than growing the 

 cherry. In these days we grow cherries for profit. If you want to 

 plant a cherry orchard, select a nice rolling piece of land and plow 

 deep about the last of September or the first of October. They will 

 do no good in wet soil. Then select your trees from the nearest re- 

 liable nurseryman. Buy nothing but good. No. 1, one- or two-year- 

 old trees — one year is preferred. Buy those budded on Mahaleb 

 stock and you will not be bothered with sprouts. 



Select for early fruit, the Early Richmond; medium, Late Duke; and 

 for late, the English Morello. Lay off the land about sixteen feet each 

 way; begin planting early in November. In about three years you 

 can begin picking the fruit. Cherry trees have many advantages over 

 apple and pear; rabbits or borers scarcely ever bother them, and the 

 fruit comes at a time of tlie year when little other fruit is on the 

 market. 



An advantage with the cherry is, you! can let them hang on the 

 trees for a week or more after they are ripe ; this gives you plenty of 

 time to find a market. You can al^^-Hys find a good market at Omaha 

 or Des Moines, if you cannot at some of your near-by towns, for a large 

 quantity of them at a fair price. 



The tree needs but little pruning. Start the head two and a half 

 to three feet high. Keep all broken and dead limbs cut out. Grow 

 potatoes or melons for two or three years and then you can sow clover 

 and plow it under to stimulate the ground. 



Pick your cherries with the stems on and put them in quart boxes 

 or baskets, and you will be surprised at the way they sell and the 

 amount 1000 trees will bring you. I have seen the fruit from a single 



