PKOPAGATION OF STOCKS. 117 



keep them properly, and yet prevent them from germinat- 

 ing before the ground is dry enough to receive them. 



How to Plant. For cherry seeds the ground should be 

 light, in a good fertile state, but not strongly manured. 

 The seeds are sown in drills as recommended for apple 

 and pear seeds, and so thin as to give each plant space to 

 grow in without being crowded by others. In this way, 

 and with clean summer culture, the stocks will all be 

 large enough at the end of the first season's growth, to be 

 taken up and prepared for planting in nursery rows the 

 following spring. 



The Mahaleb (Cerasus mahaleb) is a small tree with 

 glossy, deep green foliage. The fruit is black, about the 

 size of a marrow-fat pea, and quite bitter. It blossoms and 

 bears fruit when about three years old. It is considerably 

 cultivated in many parts of Europe, as an ornamental 

 lawn tree. There are very few bearing trees in this 

 country yet ; consequently nearly all the stocks used are 

 imported, or grown from imported seeds. 



The seeds are prepared, saved, sown, and managed in 

 all respects similar to the mazzards, and are fit for trans- 

 ferring to the nursery rows at the end of the first season's 

 growth. 



The common red pie cherry and the small morello make 

 very good stocks for dwarf trees of the duke and morello 

 classes ; but the hearts and Bigarreaus do not take on 

 them. These are raised from seed in the same way as the 

 mazzards and mahalebs. It may be added, however, as a 

 warning, that buds are more liable to fail on them than 

 on the mahaleb. 



4:th. Stocks for the Peach. As a general thing the 

 peach is worked on its own stocks in this country. The 

 stones should be placed in a state of stratification during 

 the winter, placed in boxes with alternate layers of sand 

 or light earth, and be kept in a situation exposed to the 



