CORNELIAN CHEEKY. 237 



lings ; still they are preferable, because they will produce 

 fruit when quite young. 



BUDDING. This operation should be performed, in the 

 usual manner, so soon as good, well developed buds are to 

 be obtained from the young wood of the present season's 

 growth. 



GRAFTING. This should be done in the spring, just be- 

 fore the leaves start, and upon young stocks, such as seed- 

 lings of two to four years old ; the whip or splice graft is 

 preferable to the wedge. 



CULTIVATION. 



There is no particular skill required in cultivating the 

 Cornelian Cherry, as the plant is far from being a delicate 

 one. It will grow in almost any good, garden soil. In 

 England, it is said to prefer a calcareous one, but the larg- 

 est and best plants, with which I am acquainted, are in a 

 compact loam, approaching a clay. An open, but some- 

 what sheltered situation is preferable on account of the 

 plant blooming so very early ; the flowers are often de- 

 stroyed by spring frosts, unless protected, or where there 

 is just sufficient circulation of air to prevent freezing. A 

 strong, direct current of air will often blast the flowers, 

 when the same degree of cold would not injure them if 

 the air was still, or only moved by a gentle breeze. 



VARIETIES. 



There are, it is said, other edible varieties besides the 

 two which I have named, but I have no personal knowl- 

 edge of their merits. There is a variegated leaved variety 

 which I have cultivated for several years, but up to the 

 present time it has produced no fruit. 



USES. In former times, when better fruit was scarce, 

 Cornels were used for vanous conserves and to mix with 



