THE CHERRY. 57 



Stocks- The principal stock is the Wild Cherry, or 

 Gean (Prunus avium). As, however, some varieties do 

 not succeed so well on this stock as others, the Common 

 Cherry (Prunus Caproniana), a native of Europe ; and the 

 Mahaleb Cherry (Prunus Mahaleb), a dwarf South Euro- 

 pean species, are also used as stocks for cultivated Cher- 

 ries. It appears that the Heart and Bigarreau sorts do 

 best on the Wild Cherry ; the Duke and Kentish ones on 

 the Common Cherry ; while the Mahaleb, which is a more 

 fibrous and shallow-rooting stock than the others, answers 

 best for such sorts as Governor Wood, May Duke, Late 

 Duke, Early Rivers, Black Eagle, and Royal Duke for 

 culture on sandy subsoils. All have to be reared from 

 seed, as advised in the chapter on " Propagation " in 

 Part II. 



Forms of Trees. Cherry trees are grown as standards, 

 with sterns 6ft. high, and branches at top ; half-standards, 

 with stems 3ft. high ; dwarf fan-trained trees, with stems 

 6in. high; tall standard fan-trained trees, or riders, with 

 stems about 7ft. high ; pyramids, with a short main stem 

 from which side branches radiate in the form of a cone; 

 and cordons with single stems furnished with spurs and 

 no branches. Standards and half-standards are suitable 

 for orchard culture ; pyramids for garden culture ; dwarf 

 and tall fan-trained for lofty walls; and cordons for low 

 walls, fences, or trellises in the open garden. 



Soil. The Cherry requires a deep, well-drained soil. 

 Heavy clays and light soils overlying gravel or chalk are 

 quite unsuitable. A good rich loam is the ideal soil for 

 Cherries. In gardens, therefore, that are situated on 

 heavy clay, or light soils over gravel or chalk, it will be 

 necessary to prepare special sites for the trees, if it is 

 intended to grow Cherries successfully. Clay soils must 

 be drained, dug deeply, and have plenty of old mortar 

 or grit freely mixed with them to render them porous. 

 In the case of gravelly or chalky soils, dig out holes 4ft. 



