PLUMS AND CHERRIES 173 



European cherries, growing wild in many parts 

 of the continent. The Mahaleb resembles to 

 a certain extent our native wild cherry while 

 the Mazzard is simply a primitive form of the 

 sweet cherry. It would appear that the latter 

 stock was the more logical form on which to 

 bud or graft our cultivated cherries because of 

 its obvious close relationship and many horti- 

 culturists have adhered to this theory, claim- 

 ing that the resulting trees were more vigorous, 

 showed greater resistance to cold, and were 

 longer lived. In actual practice, however, the 

 nurserymen found that the Mahaleb produced 

 a better-looking nursery tree. Naturally the 

 grower of trees wanted to grow as nice-looking 

 stuff as possible because nursery stock, like 

 many other things, sells on its looks. Then too, 

 the Mahaleb stocks were cheaper than the Maz- 

 zard, they were more easily budded, and a 

 larger per cent, of the buds adhered and grew. 

 With those arguments in his favor it would be 

 a very slow sort of nurseryman who could not 

 convince the prospective planter that he wanted 

 his trees budded on Mahaleb stock — pro- 

 vided the prospective planter was suffi- 

 ciently informed to ask about the matter before 

 buying the trees. Consequently, in this coun- 

 try, nearly all cherries are at present budded 

 on Mahaleb stock regardless of whether it is 

 the best cherry stock obtainable. 



