376 [ THE CHERRY 



cherries which if grown on the wild cherry or on the 

 hautbois cherry will succumb to the heat of summer 

 after a few years of uncertain existence. The Mahaleb 

 cherry is used as stock in France and other continental 

 countries for dwarf forms, but in our hot climate the cherry 

 grown on Mahaleb stock grows at least as large as the 

 largest tree grown on other stock. 



CULTIVATION. The cherry should not be planted 

 less than 4 to 5 metres apart, and this distance is hardly 

 sufficient for trees grown in favourable situations. In 

 the cool upper valleys or in localities on the north side of 

 high cliffs, with a deep and moist soil, and well sheltered 

 from winds, the cherry in a few years becomes a tree of 

 large size. In these shaded situations hardly any other 

 fruit tree will thrive well, and in the absence of a full 

 share of sunlight field crops will give poor returns. In 

 such situations the cherry has few requirements. The 

 land should be tilled twice or three times during the 

 rainy season to keep down weeds and to favour the 

 retention of moisture, and a good trenching of the soil, 

 every fourth year in winter, with a liberal dressing of 

 well rotted manure, will keep up the trees in full 

 production. 



Trees newly planted should be watered as soon as 

 the moisture of the soil begins to fail in spring, and 

 watering should be continued at regular intervals during 

 the summer. In the second year the trees may be 

 watered a few times in summer, and afterwards if fully 

 established no irrigation will be necessary. 



PRUNING. The cherry is not trained to any special 

 shape, its tall erect branches being ordinarily sufficiently 

 well aerated to require any thinning or training, and 

 most sorts belonging to the section of "bigarreaux" grow 

 naturally into fine pyramids. Pruning is therefore limited 

 to the removal of dead or diseased wood, and to the 

 removal of twigs and branches which are too much in the 

 way to permit the proper cultivation of the soil. By 



