234 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



produce but few fruit buds. In soils of medium fertility the follow- 

 ing distances should be taken as the minimum that should be allowed 

 in planting varieties belonging to the following groups, and it should 

 be added that the mistake is more likely to be made of planting them 

 too close rather than too far apart. Varieties belonging to the Mont- 

 morency group, 18 feet each way ; Morello group, 16 feet each way ; 

 Brusseler Braune, 20 feet each way and Vladimir, 14 feet each way. 

 On very rich soil these distances should be increased accordingly. 

 The trees should be planted very deep, ten inches to one foot deeper 

 than they stood in the nursery. Fruit buds of the cherry are often 

 destroyed by spring frost and for that reason it is always advisable 

 to choose the elevated site which is less liable to frost than a valley or 

 low land. (la. E. S. B. 73.) 



Cultivation. The cherry orchard should be kept cultivated. 

 But at the same time nearly enough vegetables, root crops or small 

 fruits may be grown to pay for the cultivation. Potatoes, beans, 

 beets, carrots and squashes make ideal crops for young orchards. 

 They are low growing, require hand cultivation, and do not impover- 

 ish the land. Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are some- 

 times successfully grown in young orchards. They should never be 

 allowed to grow less than four feet from a tree and as the trees grow 

 and take the ground, they should be removed from the orchard alto- 

 gether. Oats, wheat or field corn should never be grown in a cherry 

 orchard under any consideration. 



Pruning. In shaping the young tree for planting the head 

 should be made as low as possible on the tree and in order to get low 

 headed trees it is necessary to plant young trees that have not been 

 trimmed up in the nursery row and set them deep. The low heading 

 of the tree protects the trunk from sun scald and it can be more 

 effectively and cheaply done in this manner than in any other. Low 

 heading also brings the fruit closer to the ground and makes it easier 

 to gather which is an especially important point with the cherry 

 where the harvesting of the fruit is such a large item. 



Protecting from Birds. Many things have been recommended 

 to prevent the birds from getting the fruit. Some eastern growers 

 have been successful in planting some of the earlier sweet varieties 

 that are adapted to that section, thus allowing the birds to get their 

 full share before the more important and late varieties ripen. The 

 growers in the cold sections of the west cannot adopt this plan on ac- 

 count of the fact that the earlier sweet varieties cannot be grown there. 

 In the large orchard there are enough cherries for the owner and the 

 birds; but it is on the home place where only a few trees are raised 

 to produce the home supply of fruit that the trees need protection 

 from the birds and here the plan of covering the trees with netting 

 will be found very satisfactory and efficient. (la. E. S. B. 73.) 



Study of Varieties. Cultivated cherries are usually divided into 

 two general classes, the sweet and the sour, and these have probably 

 come from two European species, Prunus Avium, Linn., producing 

 the sweet cherries, and Prunus Cerasus, Linn., producing the sour 

 cherries. The former type is characterized by large, erect and tall- 



