540 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



crowded shoots, found that in fifty flowers 

 there was not above two styles ; of course, 

 under such circumstances no fruit could be 

 expected. The blossom-buds in Morellos for 

 several years at first are weak, and do not set 

 their fruit so freely as after they have attained 

 a greater age. 



As cherries vary in habit, so do the modes of 

 pruning and training differ also. To render 

 this more perspicuous we will suppose cherries 

 divided into three classes — viz., the small-leaved 

 kinds, of which the Morello is one; the medium- 

 leaved sorts, to which the Dukes belong; and 

 the large - leaved ones, such as the Hearts, 

 Bigarreaus, &c. The Morello leaf is somewhere 

 about 3 inches long, the young wood should 

 therefore be laid in about that distance shoot 

 from shoot, the Dukes about 5 inches, while 

 the Hearts, &c, should not be closer than 6 or 

 7 inches. These dimensions have no reference 

 to the distance at which the old branches should 

 be trained, as these, producing no leaves, cause 

 no shade, or rather interruption, to the light; 

 upon their bare branches, however, young 

 shoots may be trained by being tied down 

 upon them, but not to the extent of otherwise 

 crowding the tree. In winter pruning the 

 Morello, care should be taken not to shorten the 

 young wood, unless it be for the purpose of creat- 

 ing young shoots to fill up blanks toward the 

 bottom or centre of the tree, for such shoots 

 have in general their only good wood-bud at 

 the very point. 



The following excellent directions as to the 

 training and pruning the other kinds of cherries 

 are given by Mr Errington in " Cottage Gar- 

 dener :" — "Fan-training is what we must beg to 

 recommend for the cherry in general; and it is 

 obvious, that with the grosser-growing kinds with 

 large leaves, either the first- trained shoots in the 

 young tree must be placed at a great distance 

 apart, in order that the young shoots ultimately 

 produced may be nailed between, or, that the 

 first shoots being put at the ordinary thickness, 

 much sacrifice of young wood must be made, or 

 they must be tied down on the succession plan. 

 We advise those, therefore, who have the large- 

 leaved cherries laid in too thickly, to re-arrange 

 them, so that most of the young shoots they 

 may have produced may be trained in or tied 

 down to the older and barren wood, as the 

 case may be; for assuredly cherries of this 

 habit do not produce many surplus young 

 shoots, providing that they are anticipated, and 

 a provision made for their future training. 

 Under such circumstances most of the young 

 shoots may be tied down or otherwise encou- 

 raged ; no two, however, should be permitted to 

 lie abreast of each other : where two shoots are 

 produced in a parallel direction, within about 4 

 inches of each other, one of necessity must be 

 spurred back, leaving about 1 inch at the lower 

 end, which will prove a nucleus for future blos- 

 som-buds. No shortening back is required with 

 the cherry in general. The only cases which 

 can justify the practice are, on the one part, 

 crippled or distorted points, and the necessity 

 that exists in young trees to -prune for wood, 

 which signifies an attempt, by pruning, to cause 



one healthy shoot to subside into some three 

 or four, for by such means is the desired form 

 of the tree ultimately completed." 



The cherry, when trained as a standard, re- 

 quires very little pruning; all that is in general 

 required is to keep the branches moderately 

 thin, so that a full share of light and air may 

 penetrate to every part. 



As the cherry, when intended for standard 

 training, is multiplied more generally by the 

 process of budding than by grafting, and requires 

 to be headed down the first year, it follows that 

 early autumn-planting should be attended to 

 with a view to their making fresh roots before 

 spring. In April, or as soon as the buds spring, 

 they should be cut down to within 3 or 4 inches 

 of the place where the bud has been inserted. 

 If, therefore, planted by the end of October, 

 and if the trees are good, there will, by this 

 process, be as many eyes as will produce the 

 necessary number of shoots wherewith to form 

 the future tree. About four shoots will be suf- 

 ficient to form a standard head, the rest, there- 

 fore, should be displaced. These shoots must 

 be allowed to extend without shortening, and 

 all superfluous ones removed that may not be 

 required for forming the head. If this be 

 attended to during the first three or four years 

 they will rarely become confused afterwards, 

 and all future care required will be to secure a 

 young shoot conveniently situated to replace any 

 branch that may die or be broken by accident. 



For espalier and wall-trained cherries grafted 

 trees are to be preferred, and, according to Mr 

 George Lindley, " must be trained horizontally 

 instead of obliquely, and always continued at 

 their full length." " In Dukes and Hearts he 

 recommends that the branches should be 8 or 

 9 inches apart, beginning at the bottom of the 

 tree, and continuing each additional shoot in a 

 parallel direction till the number the wall will 

 permit be completed. This mode of training 

 will give a curved direction, more or less, after 

 the first two or three on each side have been 

 formed, to every additional shoot before it 

 gains its horizontal direction, in consequence of 

 which lateral shoots must be secured for the 

 last series in their ascent, in order to fill up the 

 middle of the tree." The Morello cherries, 

 being weaker -growing sorts, are better to be 

 trained in the fan manner; and as the fruit is in 

 general produced on the young wood of the 

 preceding year, as we have elsewhere remarked, 

 it should be laid in at its full length, and all 

 spurs which may have been formed should be 

 removed when of two years' standing. As to 

 the distance at which the shoots of the Morello 

 should be laid in, Mr Lindley gives the follow- 

 ing judicious directions : u That none of the 

 branches should be trained nearer to each other 

 than 3 inches, and from that to 4 or 5, continu- 

 ing the out-leaders at full length, as also those 

 that follow at different distances, securing at 

 intervals, in every part of the tree, a supply of 

 young wood to succeed the leaders. When the 

 trees have attained their full size, these leaders 

 should be cut out annually, in the winter prun- 

 ing, in order to make room for the next suc- 

 ceeding branches." 



