CHERRY 



CHERRY 



293 



429. Early Richmond 

 Cherry (X J-i). 



De Bray) is often severe in the sour Cherry, but can 

 be checked by thorough applications of a fungicide. 



The aphis (Myzns ci-rasi, Linn.) appears in the early 

 I>;irt nt tlip =;pn's'oTi on the young shoots, the leaves, the 

 stems, and less frequently on 

 the body of the fruit of the sweet 

 Cherries. It excretes honey-dew 

 abundantly. The leaves curl up- 

 ward and inward. Spray with 

 kerosene emulsion, 1 part to 6 

 ■ if water; or with flsh-oil soap, 

 1 pound to 6 gallons of water, 

 liefore the leaves curl. 



The curculio (Conotrachelns 

 nenuphar). See same on Plum. 



Climatic injuries. — Sini- 

 s'-iild and bursting of the bark. 

 — The sweet Cherry is liable to 

 :i fatal injury from sun-scald in 

 The south and prairie states. 

 The trouble occurs in the spring, 

 when the rays of the sun cause 

 alternate freezing and thawing 

 of the growing tissues on the 

 south and west sides. In these localities, the bark 

 of the tree frequently bursts open, and large quantities 

 of gum exude. A rich garden loam, a summer drought 

 followed by fall rain, excessive wood stimulation, violent 

 changes of temperature in the winter, or other factors 

 unfavorable to the maturing of the wood, aggravate the 

 diSBculty. The bursting of the bark is probably caused 

 by the freezing and thawing of the tissues under these 

 unfavorable conditions. Both troubles are more injuri- 

 ous to trees with exposed trunks. A low-headed and 

 spreading top, soils not too rich, and cultural methods 

 which favor the early maturity of the wood, lessen the 

 danger. The trunks may also be protected by a board, 

 matting, or screen of some kind on the sunny side dur- 

 ing the spring months. G. Harold Powell. 



The Cherry in California.— In commercial impor- 

 tance, the Cherry is least of the fruits of the temperate 

 zonegrownin California on a commercial scale. This is not 

 because the finest Cherries cannot be grown, but because 

 the avenues for the disposition of the product are not as 

 wide as for other leading fruits. Recently there are 

 Indications that these avenues will be widened, for last 

 year (1898) about 300 car loads were profitably shipped 

 in a fresh state to eastern markets, and a product of 

 150,000 cases of canned Cherries was disposed of to ad- 

 vantage; but until it is demonstrated that such distant 

 demands will increase, present plantations will not be 

 largely extended. Cherries are costly in picking and 

 packing, and to incur 

 the chances of a local 

 market, over supplied 

 when ever the trees do 

 their full duty, the 

 grower does not enjoy. 

 Cherry drying has 

 never seemed war- 

 ranter! on a large scale, 

 because of the large 

 amount of labor re- 

 quired to the pound 

 of product ; and the 

 grower has had no re- 

 course when the canner 

 and local consumer 

 would only pay the cost 

 of picking and boxing. 

 A grjod shipping de- 

 mand seems, therefore, 

 the measure of the ex- 

 tension of California's Cherry interest, and the early 

 ripening of the fruit, which permits its sale during the 

 blooming season of eastern Cherry ti'ees, is the leading 

 surety of such demand. On several occasions early va- 

 rieties have been shipped from the Vacaville district 

 overlafad, on March 31, but the usual opening date is 

 about two weeks later, and thence onward later varieties, 

 and from later regions, may be shipped until July, if 

 found profitable. 



430 Ostheim Cherry (X ^i) 



But, though there is plenty of good land upon which 

 to multiply the present total of half a million trees, the 

 Cherry regions of California are restricted. It is one of 

 the most exacting of all trees, and is only profitable when 

 its requirements are respected. About one-half of the 

 present acreage lies in valleys opening upon the bay of 

 San Francisco, where deep and moist, but well drained 

 alluvial soil fosters strong and sound root-growth, and 

 modified atmospheric aridity favors leaf and fruiting. 

 On similar deep and moist soils, however, the tree enters 

 the hot interior valleys to certain limits, chiefly along 

 the river bottoms. It abhors dry plains. In dry air it 

 usually refuses to fruit, although if the soil be moist, 

 it may make stalwart tree growth. In foot-hill valleys 

 it sometimes does admirably, both in gro\s^h and fruit- 

 ing, and in mountain valleys, above an elevation of 2,000 

 feet, on good soil, and in the greater rainfall, and even 

 with the snow flurries, which are experienced every year 

 at proper elevations, the tree becomes very thrifty and 

 profitable to the limits of local markets. The tree seems 

 to have no geographical limitations in California; where- 

 ever suitable soil and weather conditions occur, it accepts 

 the situation — the Dukes and Morellos succeeding under 

 conditions too trying for the Hearts and Bigarreans, but 

 the latter comprise all the varieties that are of commer- 

 cial account. 



Cherry trees are grown by budding upon Mazzard and 

 Mahaleb seedlings— the latter chiefly imported. It iscus- 



- ^^L J 



tomary to plant out in orchards at the end of the first 

 year's growth from the bud, though 2-year-old Cherry 

 trees can be more successfully handled than other 2- 

 year-olds. The trees are headed at 1 to 2 feet from 

 the ground, cut back to promote low branching for two 

 years, and then allowed to make long branches, and 

 not usually shortened-in, so long as thrifty and healthy. 

 The tree, in a good environment, is, however, a very 

 hardy tree, and will endure pruning to almost any 

 degree. We have many trees which have made a very 

 broid but not usually high growth, bearing 1,000 lbs. of 

 fniit t) the tree, and a few others which have even 

 1 ill 1 that figure, while others have been dwarfed and 

 ti ni I espalier. The commercial orchards are, how- 

 \ t r uniformly of low trees, approximately of vase 

 t ITU in exterior outline, and with branches curving 



itward without shortening. 



The C herry is very readily grafted over by the usual 

 fop grafting methods, and large orchards have been thus 

 tiansformed into varieties more acceptable for canning 

 or shipping Comparatively few varieties are grown. 

 Early Purple Guigne, Guigne Marbre, and Knight's Early 

 Black are grown in early ripening localities. Black 

 Tirtarian and Lewelling are the main stay for black 

 t hemes The Napoleon Bigarreau (locally known as 

 Rojal Ann) is the ideal for a white Cherry, and almost 

 excludes all others, though the Rockport Bigarreau has 

 some standing. Of all the varieties grown, the Black 

 Tartarian and Napoleon Bigarreau, constitute 70 per 

 cent of the crop, and probably 90 per cent of the amount 

 marketed. 



California-grown Cherries attain large size; the can- 

 ner's requirement for fancy fruit is a diameter not less 

 than % of an inch, and for No. 1, not less than % of an 

 inch. Wholesale prices usually range from $40 to $60 

 per ton for black and $80 to $120 for white, but this 



