174 FRUIT-GROWING 



In the orchard the trees on Mahaleb roots 

 usually show a greater adaptability to varying 

 soil conditions, and in any soil they will prob- 

 ably make just as good or better trees than will 

 the Mazzard, for the first eight or ten years of 

 their life. After that, if they have lived at all, 

 the Mazzard trees will probably show a gain on 

 those having an under-pinning of Mahaleb. If 

 I were planning a cherry orchard on soil that I 

 knew to a certainty was adapted to the grow- 

 ing of cherries, I think I should prefer Mazzard 

 roots simply because they are longer lived. If 

 I had any doubt about my soil I should prefer 

 to risk the Mahaleb as it would stand a greater 

 chance of making a success in a questionable 

 locality. It is probable, too, that when cherry 

 trees are to be used as fillers in an apple orchard 

 that the Mahaleb would be preferable to the 

 Mazzard stock because the trees would likely 

 come into bearing a little sooner. 



Plum and cherry trees should be planted 

 when not more than two years old. One-year- 

 old trees are preferable, but some varieties 

 inake a poor growth in the nursery the first 

 year and as a result are held until they acquire 

 size. Occasionally some unscrupulous nursery- 

 man will have a block of unsold trees at the end 

 of the second year, which he will hold over to 

 dispose of later. I once saw a case where a 

 small nurseryman who had a place away back 



