PLANTING THE CHERRY 225 



Mazzard, however, though credited with a dwarfing influence, does 

 make a good sized tree under our conditions. Recently the Morello 

 or sour cherry seedling, has found favor with some growers on the 

 Sacramento River, although it is inhospitable to the buds of some 

 varieties, like the Early Purple Guigne and Royal Ann, and double 

 working has to be resorted to which is expensive, both in outlay and 

 time. The Black Tartarian takes well on the Morello and other 

 varieties can be budded upon the Tartarian top growth. 



The planting of the cherry is covered by the general considerations 

 already given for the planting of orchards. The distance which 

 cherries should be set apart is a disputed point among planters. When 

 planted twenty feet apart the trees have interlaced their branches 

 when sixteen years old, and the spaces between the rows have been 

 covered in like colonnades. In the Hayward region the branches 

 of twelve-year-old trees set twenty-eight feet apart have nearly 

 reached the other, though continually cut back. Much depends in 

 the matter of distance upon the manner of handling the trees. The 

 trees can be grown much nearer together by continuous pruning 

 than where the usual way of cutting back for the first few years and 

 letting the tree take it natural growth after that, is followed. James 

 E. Gedney, of Mesa Grande, San Diego County, practices close 

 planting and cutting back which may work better on his upland than 

 on deeper, moister soils. He says: 



I plant my trees twenty feet apart each way. My method is to plant thus 

 closely and then keep my trees low, by cutting back every year ; this facilitates 

 gathering the fruit very much. I prefer this way to setting the trees farther 

 apart and allowing them to attain too great a height. By the former method I 

 secure fully as good, if not better, results per acre, to say nothing of the differ- 

 ence in gathering the fruit. Another advantage in keeping the trees headed low 

 is that the wind does not affect them nearly as much as it does tall trees. 



The best distances are 24 or 28 feet on such deep soils as have 

 been described as best befitting the tree and though one may fix 

 his distance in planting according to the method of pruning he 

 proposes to follow, he should remember that the cherry is naturally 

 a large tree, and most old orchards are now over-crowded. 



As with other trees, orchard planters prefer trees with one year's 

 growth on the bud in the nursery, because they usually get, then, 

 a straight switch with well developed buds all the way down, and 

 the head can be formed as desired. For garden planting, older trees, 

 properly pruned in the nursery, can be used to advantage. 



PRUNING THE CHERRY 



All our best growers agree in the advantage of a low head for 

 the cherry, and all aim to have trunks of young trees from the 

 ground up to the limbs literally covered all around with leaves, which 

 completely shelter the bark from the rays of the sun. In planting, 

 therefore, the side buds are carefully preserved not to be grown 

 into branches, but to be cut or pinched back when they have come 

 out a few inches, leaving just growth enough to clothe the tree with a 



