538 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



observes that new varieties are much wanted, 

 as according to his views all the old sorts are 

 hasting to decay (a favourite doctrine of his 

 regarding all fruit-bearing trees, but one with 

 which we cannot concur). Still we think the 

 production of new varieties from seed may per- 

 ad venture put us in possession of kinds superior 

 to those we at present have ; indeed we have 

 sufficient proofs of that in the many new varie- 

 ties produced of late years. The stones of 

 cherries are sown in light sandy soil in autumn, 

 whether with a view to obtain new varieties, or 

 merely for obtaining stocks on which to bud or 

 graft already known kinds. The plants remain 

 in the seed-beds for two years, when they are 

 taken up and planted in nursery lines, 3 

 feet apart, and 1 foot distant in the line. The 

 season following they are fit to bud, if ordinary 

 dwarf trees are desired ; but if standards, they 

 require from three to four years' growth, by 

 which time they have attained strong stems. 

 The grafts or buds of full standards are placed 

 nearly 6 feet from the ground, for half 

 standards 4 feet, and for dwarfs from 6 to 

 9 inches from the ground. Budding is per- 

 formed in summer, and such as fail to take may 

 be grafted the spring following. Those who 

 grow cherry-stocks for the trade ought only to 

 employ the seed of the small black or red wild 

 cherry for that purpose. Dwarf cherries are 

 preferred when grafted, as they make the better 

 plants. Regarding the proper stock for very 

 dwarf cherries, to be grown in pots for orchard- 

 house culture, or for growing in the open air in 

 what may be called a miniature cherry-orchard, 

 Mr Eivers observes : " The Cerasus mahalab, or 

 perfumed cherry, is most eligible as a stock for 

 dwarf cherries. It will grow well in calcareous 

 and shallow soils, which are unfavourable to the 

 common cherry-stock ; it is, however, better 

 adapted for that tribe of cherries of which the 

 May duke is the type, and for that of which 

 the Morello is the representative, than for the 

 Bigarreau and Heart cherries, which are apt to 

 gum and grow too rapidly in proportion to the 

 stock." — The stones of the common cultivated 

 cherry are often employed by nurserymen on 

 account of their being more readily procured. 

 They make the worst of all stocks, and trees so 

 produced are liable to disease, and are short- 

 lived. Stocks are also propagated by layers and 

 cuttings from the roots, as well as by removing 

 the suckers which are often thrown up from 

 the roots. Neither of these, however, equal in 

 health and longevity those originated from seed 

 of the wild sorts. The Morello is also used for 

 a dwarfing stock. 



Planting and soil. — The cherry seems to be 

 rather capricious as regards soil. We have 

 seen the best crops, and the healthiest trees we 

 ever saw, lately growing in a deep strong clay, 

 while we remember well that the oldest cherry- 

 orchards in England are planted on deep sandy 

 loams, often resting on a rocky bottom. Gene- 

 rally speaking, however, this tree thrives best 

 on a good deep loam, and worst of all on thin 

 gravelly soils. The Morellos, Bigarreaus, and 

 Hearts prefer a stronger soil than the Dukes 

 and their kindred. In regard to situation, a 



dry airy one is the best, as in close, damp, and 

 shaded places the tree seldom prospers. The 

 majority of cherries succeed well in all moderate 

 climates, when planted as dwarf standards not 

 exceeding 8 or 9 feet in height. In this way 

 they are readily protected from birds by netting 

 over each tree, when they stand far apart from 

 each other, or by netting over a row or planta- 

 tion when they are planted close together. 

 Some years ago an admirable specimen of a 

 cherry orchard existed at Hylands, in Essex, 

 and "may do so still, completely enclosed within 

 a close wire-covering, sufficiently high to admit 

 of trees 9 feet in height being grown within it, 

 the wire-work being close enough to exclude 

 birds. A cherry orchard of sufficient size to sup- 

 ply a large family, if planted with dwarf trees, 

 and those judiciously selected, so that the very 

 earliest, intermediate, and very latest ripening 

 sorts are introduced, would give a certain sup- 

 ply, and the season of this fruit would be greatly 

 prolonged — say from the beginning of June till 

 the middle of October — taking for example the 

 Early May and May duke for the earliest, and 

 ending withCoe's late carnation, and the different 

 varieties of Morellos {vide Select List) which 

 latter hang long on the tree, and improve in 

 flavour after they are ripe. Were such an or- 

 chard covered with galvanised octagon wire- 

 netting, supported on neat metallic posts and 

 rails, with gates of entrance and exit, it would 

 be a valuable appendage to a first-rate garden. 

 To plant cherries or plums on walls, unless it be 

 a few of the earliest sorts of both, and such as the 

 Reine Claude de Bavay, Reine Claude d'Octobre, 

 the Imperatrice, and Coe's golden drop among 

 the last, which would not, in all situations, ripen 

 without the aid of a wall, is useless ; and where 

 walls are expressly built for such a purpose, it is 

 littleshortof wasteful extravagance. Inmostparts 

 of Britain the May duke and many others would 

 come to as great perfection if grown as dwarf 

 standards as they do on walls. If protected 

 from birds, they keep better as standards. It 

 is of importance that this fruit be fully ripened, 

 for, like the grape, the cherry can hardly be 

 over-ripened, and both are in general used before 

 they arrive at full maturity. The Kentish cherry 

 is a valuable sort much neglected in the North, 

 where it succeeds well as an open standard. The 

 Morello also succeeds in many places better as a 

 standard than as a wall tree, and, being later in 

 coming into blossom, has a better chance of 

 escaping our destructive spring frosts. The 

 cherry is impatient of much pruning, therefore 

 when planted in a not over-rich soil, and treated 

 as a dwarf standard, little pruning will be re- 

 quired, especially so if attention be paid to the 

 roots, by a curtailment of them when too gross 

 a habit begins to be manifested in the tree. To 

 grow standard cherries to the height of 20 or 

 30 feet is the height of absurdity. On such as 

 these a greater weight of fruit will not be pro- 

 duced than on those not much more than a 

 quarter the height. While speaking of this class 

 of fruits, we should remark that there is a sec- 

 tion of them called Geans, much better known 

 in Scotland than in England, generally of a very 

 hardy, high-flavoured, and productive descrip- 



