APPLE, PEAR AND CHERRY SEEDLINGS 67 



Apple and Pear Seedlings. For a small lot of apple and pear 

 trees the seed can be best sown in boxes. Select plump pips and 

 keep in moist sand, from the time they are taken from the fruit until 

 sowing. Fill the boxes, which should be three or four inches deep, with 

 good garden mold, cover the seed about half an inch, and then cover 

 the soil lightly with chaff or fine straw to prevent the surface from 

 drying out. Be sure that the boxes have cracks or holes in the bottom 

 for drainage, and the whole is kept moist, but not wet. When the seed- 

 lings have grown to the height of three inches they can be set out in 

 the nursery rows as one would set out cabbage plants. 



Cherry Seedlings. There are different ways of handling pits of 

 stone fruits to prepare them for seeting out in the open ground, which 

 will be described. The cherry is grown from pits of two wild varieties ; 

 one is commonly called the "Black Mazzard." It is the common wild 

 cherry of the East, and is the original type of what are known as the 

 Heart and Bigarreau types of cherries. The other is the "Mahaleb," a 

 European wild species, which is used in the East, where it thrives 

 better than the Mazzard, as it is hardier stock. In this State the 

 Mahaleb does not seem to have much dwarfing effect, as trees on that 

 stock in this State over twenty-five years old are twenty-five inches in 

 diameter of trunk. The Mahaleb, however, ripens its wood earlier, and 

 for this reason may be valuable in the colder parts of the State. It is 

 also freer from root trouble by extremes of wetness and drouth in the 

 soil, and is largely used on low lands. The Mazzard is, however, chiefly 

 used in California. Cherry stones are sometimes taken from the fully- 

 ripened fruit, dried for two or three days, the stones cracked carefully 

 and planted at once in good soil and kept properly moist. They will 

 germinate soon and make a growth of a foot or so the first season. 

 Such stocks are taken up for grafting in the winter and set out in nur- 

 sery row the next spring. A better way of treating cherry is that given 

 by W. W. Smith of Vacaville ; 



The fruit of the Mazzard should be allowed to get perfectly ripe on the tree, 

 then gathered and let lie in a heap for three or four days, so that they may be 

 partially or wholly freed from the pulp by washing them in water. They should 

 then be spread out in the shade and stirred frequently for about twenty-four 

 hours. This will give the outside of the pit time to dry sufficiently to prevent 

 molding, while the kernel itself will remain fresh and green. They should then 

 be placed in moist (not wet) sand and kept, so until the rains set in in the fall, 

 when they can be planted in drills, in good, rich, mellow soil prepared the previ- 

 ous spring and kept clean of weeds through the summer, ready for the purpose. 

 They should never be allowed to get perfectly dry; and the reason for it is that 

 we have but little or no freezing and thawing weather in this country to cause 

 the pits to open; but if they are kept constantly moist it answers the same pur- 

 pose as freezing. The seeds of the Mahaleb cherry will sprout with less diffi- 

 culty, but the same rules for keeping the Mazzards will apply to them. 



Other stock for the cherry will be discussed in the chapter on that 

 fruit. 



Citrus Fruits. The propagation of citrus fruits will be described 

 in detail in Chapters XXXII, XXXIII, and XXXIV. 



The Larger Stone Fruits. In handling pits of the larg'er stone 

 fruits, apricot, peach, plum, etc., the chief requisite is to prevent 



