36 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



Summer pruning would be perfectly proper and advisable. 

 Summer pruning immediately after the fruit is picked, has become 

 much more general, and winter pruning has proportionately de- 

 creased. Young trees are winter pruned to promote low branching 

 and short, stout limbs; bearing trees are summer pruned to promote 

 fruit bearing and check wood growth — the excess of bearing shoots 

 being removed by thinning during the winter. 



Wild Cherries. 



Where do the Malialeb and Mazzard cherries groiv naturally? Hoiv 

 large are the trees, and zvJiat kind of fruit do they bear? 



The Mazzards, of which there are many, and some of them 

 wild in the Eastern States, are counted inferior seedlings of the 

 species avium, and are tall, large trees, the fruit being small and 

 rather acrid and colors various. The Mahaleb is a European type 

 with a smaller tree, fruit inferior to the Mazzards, and used as a 

 root under soil and climatic conditions under which the Mazzard 

 is not hardy and vigorous. Neither of the kinds are worth con- 

 sidering for their fruit. 



Pruning Cherries. 



/ have some cherry trees that have not been pruned. They are beau- 

 tiful trees, but it a requires a 24-foot ladder to get near the top limbs. The 

 side limbs reach from tree to tree. They had a splendid crop this year. 

 People here tell me never to prune cherry trees. One man who claims 

 considerable experience zmth fruit savs prune them as soon as the crop is 

 off. 



Your cherry trees should have been pruned for the first two 

 or three years quite severely, in order to secure better branching 

 and strength in the main branches. If this is done, and the trees 

 come into full bearing, very little pruning has to be done after- 

 ward, except removing diseased, interfering or surplus branches, 

 if there are too many. It is perfectly safe to cut back the trees 

 which you now have as you have been advised to do, after the leaves 

 have fallen or after they have begun to turn yellow. The trees 

 can be safely topped and thinned, for the cherry accepts pruning 

 very readily. Even considerable amounts of the tops have been 

 cut ofif at fruit-picking time from trees which have been running too 

 high, so that the fruit could be secured, and this has not injured 

 the trees, according to our own experience and observation. Cherries 

 can be summer-pruned to check excessive growth and to promote 

 fruit-bearing, but as your trees have already begun to bear well, 

 this treatment does not seem to be necessary. You should do fall and 

 winter pruning for the shape of the trees. 



Training Cherry Grafts. 



/ have grafted a lot of seedling cherries, leaving two or three buds on 

 each piece of grafted zvood. In planting these out, shall I put the union 



