CHERRY 



423 



275. Sour or pie cherries. 



The sour cherry should be planted 18 by 18 ft. apart, in well-prepared, 

 under-drained soil. The trees may be slightly trimmed back each year, 

 keeping the head low and bushy. 



The sweet cherries have proved disappointing in many instances 

 from the rotting of the fruit. This may never be entirely avoided, but 

 good cultivation, soil 

 not too rich in nitro- 

 gen, attention to 

 spraying, and picking 

 the fruit when dry, 

 will lessen the loss 

 very much. In years 

 of severe rotting the 

 fruit should be picked 

 before it becomes fully 

 ripe, placed in a cool, 

 airy room and allowed 

 to color. It will be 

 nearly as well flavored as if left on the tree ; and, as the fungus usually 

 attacks only the ripe fruit, a considerable part of the crop may be 

 saved. Set the trees 25 or 30 ft. apart. Only very well-drained land 

 should be devoted to sweet cherries, preferably one of a somewhat 

 gravelly nature. 



Leaf -blight is readily controlled by timely spraying with bordeaux 

 mixture (see bottom p. 211). The curculio or fruit worm may be con- 

 trolled by jarring, as for plums, or by spraying (p. 202). The jarring 

 process is seldom employed with cherries for the curculio, inasmuch 

 as the poison spray seems, for some reason, to be particularly effec- 

 tive on these fruits. 



Varieties of cherry. 



Of the sour varieties, May Duke (Fig. 36), Richmond, Dyehouse, 

 Montmorency, Ostheim, Hortense (Fig. 34), Late Kentish, Suda, and 

 Morello (English Morello) (Fig. 35) are the most valuable. The fol- 

 lowing sweet varieties are of value where they succeed: Rockport, 

 (Yellow) Spanish, Elton, (Governor) Wood, Coe, Windsor, (Black) 

 Tartarian, and Downer. 



