ROEDING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



15 



if the check is filled up. Thorough and frequent culti- 

 vation is much more important than resorting to irri- 

 gation. Cultivating and stirring the soil causes the 

 roots to penetrate deeply for moisture, a very important 

 and vital point. As the trees become mature, all the 

 ground will have to be covered when irrigating, either 

 by checking or by having the water run in furrows and 

 seeping into the surrounding soil. 



COMMERCIAL VARIETIES 



Bartlett, Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre Hardy, Doyenne 

 <lu ( \>mice, Easter Beurre, Forelle or Trout, Glou Mor- 

 ceau, Howell, Lawson, P. Barry, Winter Bartlett, 

 Winter Nelis, 



TIME OF RIPENING 



July 



Madeleine, Lawson. 



August 



Bartlett, Bloodgood, Calpp's Favorite, Howell, Sou- 

 venir du Congress, B. S. Fox. 



September . 



Beurre Hardy, Le Conte, Duchess d'Angouleme, 

 Seckel, Flemish Beauty, Beurre Clairgeau, Rossney. 



October 



Beurre Diel, Doyenne du Cornice, Kieffer, Beurre 

 Bosc, Louis Bonne de Jersey, Beurre d'Anjou, Emile 

 d'Heyst, Forelle, White Doyenne, Winter Bartlett. 



November 



Dana's Hovey, Winter Nelis, Pound, Easter Beurre, 

 P. Parry, Glou Morceau, Crocker Bartlett. 



THE CHERRY 



Strictly speaking the sections in which cherries can 

 be grown seem to be limited to the counties adjacent to 

 the San Francisco bay region, although there is no 

 doubt that in many of the counties north of the bay 

 and receiving the benefit of the tempered sea air, 

 the growing of cherries will prove to be a profitable 

 undertaking. The enormous profits realized from cherry 

 orchards and the popularity of the fruit in the east, the 

 very excellent keeping qualities of many of the varieties 

 even when picked quite ripe, present a series of reasons 

 for extending the field for the planting of cherries over 

 a greater territorj'. 



Being the initial stone fruit of the season probably 

 accounts in a way for its popularity. 



Exceptionally fine cherries are grown in Oregon and 

 Washington. California's advantage over these two 

 states is not so much in the quality of the fruit as it is 

 in the time of ripening. Our season is from May 1st to 

 June 15th, while in the more northern states the season 

 opens on the latter date and closes about July 15th. In 

 the upper San Joaquin valley, notably around Stockton, 

 in many sections of the Sacramento valley, and in the 

 foothill sections adjacent thereto, cherries are grown 

 quite successfully in the alluvial soils. In the south 

 half of the San Joaquin valley cherries should only be 



A two-year-old Cherry tree cut back to illustrate method 

 followed of thinning and cutting back the leaders to 

 secure a well balanced head. 



planted for home use, giving the preference to the 

 Morello types. Cherry trees should be planted twenty- 

 four feet apart at the very least, and on exceptionally 

 rich soils, thirty feet would be better. 



STOCKS FOR THE CHERRY 



For years it has been absolutely fixed in the minds of 

 planters, and many of them experienced growers, that 

 the only root for the cherry in California is the Mazzard 

 (Cerasus aviwri). 



According to all reports, the Mahaleb root (Cerasus 

 odorata), which is extensively used in the east for grow- 

 ing cherries, would not do in California, and nursery- 

 men, because of the prevailing prejudice, have hesitated 

 to use it. While on a tour of investigation in Solano 

 county, I found to my surprise in the Vacaville district 

 several young orchards and one old orchard of forty 

 years or more where the sweet cherries were not only 

 very thrifty, but were producing very heavily on the 

 Mahaleb root. One of the most experienced growers 

 in the valley, Mr. H. A. Bassford, said that his preference 

 for this root was due to the trees being longer lived, 

 greater prolificness and the evident influence of this 

 root on the growth of the tree. 



The dwarfing tendency so often attributed to the 

 Mahaleb is not borne out by observation; on the con- 

 trary, its effect is to give the tree a greater bearing sur- 

 face and its influence is more in the direction of pre- 

 venting the excessive growth of the branches. Possibly 

 the loss of trees which many growers have sustained 

 through sour sap may be due to the use of the Mazzard 



