200 THE CHERRY. 



best mode of obtaining stocks, as they are no more liable to sucker 

 than if from seed. 



Transplanting. When from the seed bed to the nursery row, it 

 should be done in the Fall on dry soils, and early in Spring on soils 

 not perfectly dry in Winter. They should be set in rows four feet 

 apart, and one foot apart in the row, and the plants should have one 

 half of last year's growth cut off, and all long, straggling, as well & 

 the tap root, cut back to six inches. These, if the season is good, 

 will be suitable for budding the same Summer. Orchard trees, and 

 also dwarfs for gardens, should have one half of the previous year's 

 growth cut off, and the roots trimmed smoothly at ends with a sharp 

 knife. The distance apart for standard trees in orchard, should be 

 about twenty-five feet, while dwarfs may be planted at distances of 

 eight feet each way. 



Standard Trees. Are best for orcharding, and should, in no situa- 

 tion, have their heads formed more than four feet from ground, and 

 throughout the West and South not more than two feet. 



Dwarf Trees. Are produced by propagating the Sweet or Duke 

 varieties on the Mahaleb, or Morello roots. They should in all cases 

 be worked just at the crown of the root, as it is there a union is best 

 formed; and also, by means of pruning (see page 28), they should 

 be made to form heads branching immediately from the ground. 



Soil and Situation. The soil best suited to most Cherries is that 

 of a rich light loam on a gravelly sub-soil, but they will grow and 

 produce fruit freely in all soil not wet. The roots of the Hazard or 

 Sweet Cherries are very impatient of water, and will only endure a 

 few seasons in strong soils void of drainage, or where water stands 

 most of the Winter. To this want of drainage, in great measure, is 

 attributable the destruction of the Cherry in most of the prairie soils 

 throughout Southern and Western States: and not until we manage 

 to drain freely our rich alluvial deposits, can we succeed perfectly with 

 the Sweet Cherries. The roots of the Dukes, Morellos, and Mahaleb, 

 are less open and spongy in texture, and therefore less impatient of 

 water. They, however, do not flourish vigorously for any length of 

 time unless drainage is effected. To this point in the culture of the 

 Cherry we beg especially to call attention of our Western and Southern 

 readers, assuring them, that whatever of theory may have been advanced 

 referable to climate, they will find drainage, or the want thereof rather, 

 to be the primary cause of destruction. Situated at a point where 

 the Cherry probably does as well as at any place in the United 

 States, we have had occasion to notice the result of trees situated in 

 what appeared suitable soil, but where, on examining, after, having 

 lost several trees, we found water to have stood a long time about 

 the roots. 



Naturally, most of the soil of Western and Southern States is rich 

 in vegetable matter, giving vigorous, even rampant growth to the 



