Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



287 



good results. The seeds should be covered to a depth of half an inch^ and if 

 conditions are favorable they will germinate within four or five weeks. The 

 young plants should be potted off when they have attained a height of three or 

 four inches^ using pots of a diameter not less than two and a half inches. The 

 plants are not particular as to soil^ it only being necessary that it is light and 

 porous. 



Budding is best done in early spring, shortly after the sap has begun to flow. 

 In some seasons this will be as early as the first of March, but more frequently 

 late in March or early in April. The trees should be watched and the work 

 begun as soon as it is found the bark will slip readily. 



Figure 127. A plate of Cherimoyas as grown at an altitude of 7000 feet in the 



highlands of Mexico. 



The most advantageous method of budding the Cherimoya is that known as 

 shield budding, the operation being practically the same as with the citrus 

 fruits. Mr. C. P. Taft of Orange obtained excellent results from his first attempt, 

 but later found that even though the work was done under favorable conditions 

 the buds would sometimes fail to grow. The stocks used by Mr. Taft have been 

 seedling Cherimoyas; in Florida Mr. Wester has budded on Anona glabra, A. 

 squamosa, and A. reticulata, finding A. glabra the most vigorous and satisfactory. 

 It is not certain that this species will be equally satisfactory in California, 

 however. 



The stocks should be from three-eighths to one-half inch in diameter — seed- 

 lings of this size being usually from a year to a year and a half old. Wood from 

 which the leaves have dropped and of about a year's growth is the most desirable 

 for budwood, and Mr. Wester advises cutting the buds not less than an inch and 



