The Cherry. 89 



109. Propagation. Seedings of the bird cherry are much 

 used for stocks, both for its own species and for the varie- 

 ties of Pninus cerasus. 



The mahaleb cherry {Primus mahaleh) is also used to 

 produce a somewhat dwarfed cherry, and possesses the ad- 

 vantage of thriving on lieavy cla}' ground. Neither of 

 these stocks is entirely successful in the northern Mississippi 

 valley, but the mahaleb appears to be the hardier of the two. 



The seeds may be treated as directed for the plum (104), 

 but must be planted very shallow, and unless the soil is 

 rather light, they should be covered with leaf mold, fine 

 ■sand or thoroughly decayed manure, to avoid the formation 

 ■of a crust over them. The seedlings are not often large 

 enough to bud until the second season. They should com- 

 monly be taken up the fall after sowing and buried in well- 

 drained soil, or stored in a cool, moist cellar until the fol- 

 lowing spring. Budding the cherry is practicable only 

 with thrifty stocks and- well-matured buds. The most fa- 

 vorable time for budding is just as the terminal buds on 

 the shoots commence to form. It is said to be important 

 to cut out with the bud a section of wood reaching about 

 ■one-third through the shoot. 



Grafting the cherri/ otherwise than by budding is rarely 

 successful unless performed very early in the spring, before 

 frost has left the ground. 



110. Pruning. The cherry requires only sufficient prun- 

 ing to form a symmetrical head and to admit sunlight to 

 the fruit spurs. In countries of severe winters it is impor- 

 tant to head the trees low and to protect the trunk against 

 «un-scald. 



111. Picking and marketing. The mature fruit of the 

 •cherry is much subject to destruction by birds. To prevent 

 this, it is often necessar}- to gather the fruit before it 



