CHAPTER VII. 



THE CHERRY. 



PROPAGATION. The cultivated varieties of the cherry con- 

 sist of two distinct classes of sorts ; the first comprising the 

 Mazzards, Hearts, and Bigarreaus, is characterized usually 

 by the tall upright growth and pyramidal form of the tree, 

 by the large, vigorous, and straight young branches, and by 

 a sweet or bitter, but not a sour taste. The second class, or 

 round-fruited, including the Dukes, Morellos, and the com- 

 mon pie cherry, has small, irregular, and thickly growing 

 branches, and a decidedly acid fruit. Observation will 

 soon enable any one to distinguish these two classes, even 

 where the trees are not more than a foot in height. It is 

 the former only that are valuable as stocks for grafting and 

 budding, on account of their straight and rapid growth.* 



The stones, as soon as they are taken from the fruit, 

 should be dried only enough to prevent mouldiness, and 

 then mixed with an equal quantity of clean moist sand. 

 This will preserve a proper degree of moisture, and allow 

 the easy separation of the stones in planting. The best way 

 to keep them till spring, is to bury them in shallow pits on 

 a dry spot of ground, covering them with flat stones and a 

 few inches of earth. 



The seed may be planted in autumn or spring. If in au- 

 tumn, the ground should be dry, and entirely free from all 

 danger of becoming flooded or water-soaked. Unless the soil 



* Attempts are not unfrequently made to propagate the common cherry on the 

 wild Black Cherry, (Cerasus virginiana,) or on the Choke Cherry, (C. serotina.) 

 Such attempt* prove to be failures, the sorts being too dissimilar in their natures to 

 favor union. These two species, it will be observed, have racemose inflorescence, 

 while in the cultivated cherry the flowers are simply in fascicles or umbels. Some of 

 the wild species, (as the Sand Cherry, C. pubescent,) having the latter kind of inflo- 

 rescence, have been successfully used as slock?, and their adoption might possibly 

 prove useful at the south and west, where the Heart cherries fail. 



