594 



CHERRIES UNDER GLASS. 



The method of growing cherries in River's orchard- 

 houses is given below in detail, with plans of a house. 

 Most of the trees are grafted on cherry stock, except the 

 Duke cherries and Early Rivers and Governor Wood, 

 which are grafted on Mahaleb stock. They are never 

 lifted or replanted before potting. 



Early in autumn one and two-year-old trees are taken 

 up, their roots shortened so that they can be put into the 

 pots without breaking, and planted in 8 or 12-inch pots. 

 This potting must be done carefully, and the trees must 

 be set so deep that the big roots near the surface will be 

 covered with an inch of soil. Cover the bottom of the 

 pots with a good thick layer of drainage. The soil used 

 in potting is a lieht sandy loam, enriched with one-third 

 of well-decayed fertilizer. It is 

 important to firm the soil well 

 around and among the roots. 

 Fill it in by degrees, in small 

 quantities, and beat it down 

 firmly all through the pot, tak- 

 ing care not to injure the roots. 

 After potting, the 

 trees are set in a 

 sheltered place 

 outdoors, the pots 



Plan— Ventilation of English Orchard House. 



being covered with leaves. If the soil is moist enough 

 when the trees are potted they will not need watering. 



When spring comes the trees must be thinned out and 

 the pots plunged one-third of their depth in the earth. 

 The trees remain here all the summer, are watered care- 

 fully every morning when the weather is bright and dry, 

 and syringed with pure water if the greenfly is trouble- 

 some. In July, when the trees are well rooted, a top-dress- 

 ing of stable-manure and kiln-dust in equal parts is given 

 the trees. A few days before the top-dressing is used it is 

 spread out in thin layers somewhere outdoors, and soaked 

 several times with liquid manure. It is applied to the 

 soil in the pots, in layers two inches thick near the rims, 

 but thinner near the stems of the trees. This top-dress- 

 ing greatly improves and strengthens the trees for the 

 coming year. 



After growing in pots one summer, trees are fit to be 

 sold the following autumn or spring. From River's nur- 



sery three or four hundred potted cherry trees are sold 

 yearly, the number increasing constantly. Old cherry 

 trees that have been cultivated in pots for years are kept 

 during winter in one of the orchard-houses. When 

 spring comes and their buds begin to start, the pots are 

 plunged up to the rim in the ground in the cherry-house. 



Although during winter the trees seldom need water- 

 ing, still the soil in the pots must not be dry when 

 growth begins, as drouth at this time would soon greatly 

 injure the trees. Cherry trees must be watered care- 

 fully. Too much or too little water spoils any plant or 

 tree ; it is better to have the trees flag from want of 

 water sometimes when the sun is bright than to have the 

 ball of earth soaked. When the soil is too wet growth stops, 

 the leaves of the tree turn yellow 

 and soon die away. This is apt to 

 happen before the trees are well- 

 rooted. Indeed, one reason why 

 pot-grown cherries are not more 

 popular is because they are apt to 

 be "contrary" during the first 

 year, before their roots become 

 established. The pots containing 

 that seem to suffer from over- 

 watering should be taken up from 

 where they were 

 plunged, to dry out. 



Ventilation must 

 be well kept up 

 until the flowering 

 time of the cher- 

 ries is over ; while 

 the fruit is grow- 

 ing the house may 

 be kept closer and 

 warmer. Fruit 

 stops growth or 

 grows very slowly 

 while the cherry- 

 stones are " firm- 

 ing, " and the house 

 must not get too warm at this time, especially if the 

 trees have been started early and the sun is bright. 

 Give as much air as the state of the weather will allow, 

 day and night, when the cherries begin to ripen, but al- 

 ways be sure that there are no drafts through the house. 

 The plan of ventilation is shown in the diagram given 

 above. See also pages 593 and 595. 



Syringe the cherry trees once a day in the spring when 

 the sap starts and the buds swell ; twice a day later on, 

 when the weather is bright and dry. During spring the 

 temperature is kept up by means of glowing charcoal 

 (charcoal burning without flame). When the nights are 

 cold kettles 38 to 40 centimetres wide are filled with char- 

 coal ; this is lit, and the kettles, placed in the cherry- 

 house, give out enough heat to keep up the temperature. 

 In blooming time and when the fruit is ripe the trees are 

 not syringed ; only the floor is dampened. 



It is very important to give fertilizers to pot-grown 



