PLUMS AND CHERRIES 179 



latent buds distributed along the trunk. Owing 

 to the difficulty with which the cherry estab- 

 lishes itself in a new locality it is thought best 

 to make it as easy as possible for the young 

 tree to put forth its new shoots — hence the 

 sparing of the bud-covered branches. 



Sweet cherries, like most of the European 

 plums, have that upright habit that pleases the 

 artistic soul and drives the fruit-grower to dis- 

 traction. Out of several hundred trees I have 

 perhaps two or three in which this tendency 

 has been overcome by pruning, but the rest are 

 heading skyward as fast as their rather reluc- 

 tant roots will let them. From my window I 

 can see a single tree of the Napoleon variety, 

 that finest of sweet cherries, and its top is as 

 regular and tapering as a Lombardy. Having 

 failed to change the habit of growth of one of 

 my "pet" trees, one that stands daily before 

 my eyes as a reminder of the futility of trying 

 to correct its bad habits, who am I to tell you 

 how it should be done? 



Cherries and plums should both be given 

 thorough cultivation. They resemble the peach 

 in that they will not succeed in sod. — Yes I 

 know that some of my readers will rise up and 

 shout that they have trees growing in sod and 

 that they always bear, etc. Save your postage 

 — I know that it sometimes happens, but I sug- 

 gest that you break the sod around those 



