THE CHERRY. 



205 



espaliers from 20 to 24 feet should be allowed 

 for the Bigarreau, Elton, and Florence Cherries, 

 and from 15 to 20 feet for the May Duke and 

 Morello. Riders or tall trained standards may 

 be disposed between the dwarf trained trees 

 with a view to utilizing all the wall space till 

 the dwarf trees want the room, when they may 

 either be gradually cut out or trans- 

 planted to another position. 



Pruning and Training. — The 

 Cherry, as a standard, requires but 

 little pruning after the stem has 

 been reared and the six principal 

 branches of the head formed. The 

 stem ought to be grown so as to 

 ensure its tapering; and on this 

 account it is necessary that it 

 should not be stripped of shoots 

 and foliage. The temporary side- 

 shoots left should not, however, be 

 allowed to retain too great a length ; 

 they ought not to be permitted to 

 compete with the leader, but must 

 be checked when likely to do so. 

 Further, these shoots should not be 

 more than two years old ivhen they 

 are cut close to the stem, in order 

 that the wounds may heal the more 

 readily, and with less risk of gum- 

 ming. As the leaves on the shoots 

 of a young tree are usually large, a 

 few shoots will deposit a consider- 

 able quantity of alburnum on the 

 stem below them; consequently, in 

 proportion to that amount, the stem 

 will be thickened more beneath such 

 shoots than above them. Hence the 

 requisite taper form will soon be 

 obtained, and the side- shoots dis- 

 pensed with when one, or at most 

 two years old. 



The head should be formed as directed for 

 the Apple and Pear, with this exception, that 

 the first three shoots of the Bigarreau kinds 

 may be shortened to 15 inches; two shoots 

 from each should be encouraged, one situated 

 at the end, the other 3 inches nearer the stem, 

 so that there may be room for the branches to 

 increase in thickness without pressing against 

 each other, as this gives rise to gumming, as is 

 also sometimes the case when two large limbs 

 originate from two adjoining buds. , After the 

 principal branches of the head have been 

 started, very little pruning will be required. 

 It will be well, however, to see that the prin- 

 cipal branches are maintained of as nearly 



equal strength as possible for a few years, 

 and then the tree may be allowed to take its 

 natural development, with the exception of 

 cutting out shoots that would otherwise form 

 cross branches. 



The Morello succeeds well as a low standard, 

 and all the Duke family, together with the 



Fig. 1009.— Cherry, Half Standard (Morello). 



sturdy-growing Early Rivers, Elton, and Go- 

 vernor Wood, may be grown either pyramidal, 

 bush, or cordon form. In either case they 

 can be framed out from maidens, much as 

 advised for Apples and Pears thus trained. 

 Birds are the greatest hindrances to success 

 with these forms of trees, but if grouped they 

 might be permanently protected with galvan- 

 ized wire-netting, cordons often being employed 

 for clothing the support of wire-netting-covered 

 structures, principally devoted to Gooseberry 

 culture. 



In training against espaliers the branches 

 should be 1 foot apart, and, like tho^e of the 

 Plum, they ought to spring from the stem 



