DEVELOPMENT OF VASE-FORM TREE 227 



THE USUAL METHOD OF PRUNING THE CHERRY 



As we have said, all cherry growers agree on low heading and 

 on the advantage of pinching the lowest shoots as soon as they make 

 a bunch of leaves. In forming the head, and in after treatment, 

 the usual method is quite different from that we have described. 

 It follows the vase or goblet form, which has been discussed at 

 length in the chapter on pruning. Of the application of this method 

 to the cherry, W. W. Smith, in an address before the State 

 Horticultural Society, said: 



The cherry may be pruned the same as any other deciduous fruit tree until it 

 is about five years old; after that the less pruning the better, except when neces- 

 sary to cut out a dead or crossing branch. Pruning the cherry is more or less 

 likely to produce gum (and this, decay), and should be avoided as much as 

 possible. Cherry trees, however, should trained with low heads not to exceed 

 eighteen inches from the ground to the first branches; fifteen inches is better. 

 From three to five branches are enough to form the head of the tree; all others 

 should be removed early. Three are better than five ; two make a forked tree, 

 which is likely to split in after years. 



At the end of the first season we have a neat little tree with three to five 

 branches. During the following winter these branches should be cut back to six 

 to eight inches. The next season these should be allowed to produce two 

 branches each (no more) ; then, at the end of the second season from planting 

 out, we have a tree with from six to ten branches. The following winter the 

 new growth should be cut back again to from twelve to eighteen inches- 

 according to the amount of growth the tree makes the less the growth the more 

 you cut. The same process should be repeated the following winter, treating each 

 branch as an individuual tree, until the tree is about five years old; it takes at 

 least five years to get the head of a cherry well established. After this, as 

 some varieties will persist in throwing out branches near the ground, they should 

 be removed during the summer. At this age the tree, if well grown, will have 

 top enough to shade its body from the sun, and there is no further need of 

 branches on the main trunk. 



If necessary to remove large branches it should then be done in midsummer, 

 as that is the only season when the gum- is not more or less exuded. We made 

 it a rule to go over and dress up and prune our cherry orchard immediately after 

 the crop is gathered which in our part of the State is the last of May. All 

 wounds made then by the removal of branches or otherwise will heal over the 

 same season. All large wounds made at any time, however, should be coated 

 over with paint. 



The method thus described by Mr. Smith is that by which probably 

 nine-tenths of the cherry trees of this State are shaped. 



In the cherry there should be the same observation as to cutting 

 inside and outside buds as with other trees ; in fact, the outside bud 

 is the rule, because so many varieties make a directly upward growth. 

 In removing limbs, cutting to the collar or swelling at the base or 

 the limb is especially important, also the covering of the wound to 

 prevent checking of the wood. 



GRAFTING OVER THE CHERRY 



Since canning of cherries began on a large scale, there has been 

 a vastly increased demand for white cherries. The Royal Ann (a 

 local name for Napoleon Bigarreau) has been the favorite. Other 

 white sorts are also used for canning-. This rise in favor of the white 



