154 THE HANDBOOK FOE PEACTICAL FAEMERS 



continued about July 1, sow oats and Canada field peas mixed, 

 or rye and vetch as a cover crop to protect the roots in A\dnter. 

 Dig this green manure under in the spring. 



If the ''framework'^ of the tree has 

 been x>roperly constructed (low, loose 

 head), little pruning will be necessary 

 after the fifth year's growth. 



Thin the fruit so that the tree may 

 produce each year and the remaining 

 fruit will be larger, a finer texture, and 

 better flavor. The plum curculio is con- 

 trolled with the same solution as sug- 

 gested for the same insect on the cherry. 

 To control the brown rot, pick off all 

 the ** mummies" or rotten phmis after 

 the foliage has fallen. Spray with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. 



Cherries. — All low-lying land should 

 be avoided for both the sweet and sour 

 cherries. The sweet cherry, if grow^n 

 with any degree of success, requires a 

 deep, sandy loam, so exposed (north- 

 east) that the blossoms will be held back 

 until all danger of frost has passed. A 

 southern exposure not only causes the 

 buds to break early but often causes sun- 

 scald. The sour cherries are hardier 

 than the sweet varieties and do well in 

 a light clay soil. 

 The sv/eet cherry should be planted twenty-four feet each way, 

 seventy-five trees per acre, while the sour cherry has ample room 

 at eighteen feet each way, one hundred and thirty-four trees per 

 acre. Both should be planted early in the spring, set firmly in 

 the soil and the surface of the soil cultivated until July 15 Avhen 

 a cover crop should be planted, clover, rye or vetch. If crops 

 are grown between the trees continue cultivation until Septem- 

 ber and then mulch with straw or manure. After the trees come 

 into bearing (five years) apply each spring one-half Avheel- 

 barrow load of manure, two pounds of bone meal, and one pound 

 of muriate of potash to each tree working this fertilizer into the 

 first three inches of soil. 



Both the sour and sweet cherries require very little pruning 

 after they come into bearing. Keep the head low, remove all 



Fig. 74. — Black knot, a, on 

 pluin; b, on currant. 

 Cut out infected parts 

 two to three inches be- 

 low the diseased wood. 

 Burn all diseased wood. 

 After pruning spray the 

 trees with Bordeaux 

 mixture. — After Massee. 



