116 THE MINIATURE FRUIT GARDEN 



formed into a narrow bottomless bag, which should be 

 let down gently over the tree, so as to leave the leading 

 shoot out, and tied at the bottom and top ; Duke 

 cherries may be thus preserved till August. I may 

 mention here, that with these cherry cordon trees, root- 

 pruning or removal is seldom required, their vital 

 force is so reduced by the pruning of the young shoots ; 

 but if a rich soil gives too much vigour, it may be 

 practised. 



The Bigarreau and Heart, or Gruigne cherries, are 

 too vigorous for this mode of culture when grafted or 

 budded, as they generally are, on the common cherry 

 stock. The new mode of culture by double grafting, 

 i.e. by grafting on Morello cherry trees that have been 

 previously grafted on the Mahaleb, will make them 

 most prolific cordons. (See page 133.) 



I must add a piece of very necessary advice : all 

 vertical cordon trees, whether pears, apples, cherries or 

 plums, should be supported by a slight iron rod, about 

 the size of a goosequill, which should be painted ; this 

 should stand six to seven feet above the surface, and be 

 inserted ten to twelve inches in the ground, and the 

 tree attached loosely to it by two or three bands of 

 sheet lead or some soft metal. 



