108 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
August T, 1890. 
would be more free and uniform in consequence. We have seen 
numbers of young dwarf trees o£ different kinds of fruit bearing 
well, while old trees surrounding them are barren. 
It is only natural that a scant crop of fruit and barren trees 
should be disappointing to the owners of them, but trees cannot 
bear heavy crops always. One great grower was heard to say the 
rest would do his Apple trees good, and he hoped would have another 
and important result—namely, of starving out the codlin moth, 
which was becoming seriously destructive, and he thinks the pest 
cannot exist for a whole year without anything to eat. He intends 
planting more trees, especially of Duchess of Oldenburg. 
FRUIT CONFERENCE PAPERS. 
The following are two of the papers referred to above as having 
been read at Leicester on Tuesday last by Mr. T. Francis Rivers 
and Mr. A. J. Pearson. Others will appear in a future issue. 
CHERRIES AND PLUMS FOR PROFIT. 
by Mr. T. Francis kivers. 
The Cherry is, and has been always, one of our most important 
industrial fruits, coming into use almost as soon as the Strawberry, 
and remaining for some weeks after. A May Duke Cherry tree 
loaded with its crimson fruit is a sight beloved of boys and birds. 
The Norman orchardists declare that the orioles who arrive first 
pass the word to their followers that the Cherries are reddening 
in Normandy, and when the signal is given they descend in shoals 
on the trees. It is certain also that in many parts of England it is 
almost hopeless to keep a crop of fruit from these busy thieves. 
I know from my own experience that it is quite hopeless, and I 
am compelled to grow all my fruit under glass. 
The tree is hardy, and will bear abundant crops of fruit very 
far north. In St. John’s “Wild Sports of the Highlands” he 
speaks of the wood pigeons feeding on his plentiful crops of 
Cherries in Morayshire, near the Bay of Findhorn. It flourishes 
and fruits freely in all dry sandy soils, but does not thrive in deep 
rich alluvial districts. On the high and dry Epping plain, where 
I believe water has been sought for and not found at a depth of 
800 feet, the Bigarreau and Heart Cherries thrive exceedingly ; and 
I have also seen abundant crops of May Duke Cherries in the dry 
and sandy soils of Woburn Sands near Bedford. When establish¬ 
ing a Cherry orchard this condition of the tree should be always con¬ 
sidered, and the knowledge will be of considerable use in winning 
a profit from a soil which the farmer or grazier would pass by as 
unsuitable for his purpose. 
For practical purposes the Cherry may be divided into four 
classes—the Guignes or Heart Cherries, the Bigarreau, the May 
Duke, and the Morello. The Guignes or Heart Cherries are the 
earliest to ripen. The earliest large Cherry of this class is the 
Guigne d’Annonay, which is large, sweet, and very good, purplish 
black in colour, ripening in an unheated orchard house about the 
first week in June, and in a warm hot season the last week in May. 
The next in order, and in my opinion the finest of the class, is the 
Early Rivers. This was raised some years since from the Early 
Purple Guigne, a very delicious and fine Cherry, but rather too 
tender for out-of-doors culture in this country. Under glass the 
Early Rivers ripens the first week in June, and will hang in good 
condition until the second week in July. For some time I hesitated 
to recommend it for cultivation as a standard tree in orchards, but I 
now find that it is as hardy as the May Duke, and it produces abundant 
crops of fine large black fruit a fortnight before the May Duke. I 
can safely recommend it as one of the most profitable Cherries 
existing. It has lately been planted on a large scale in Kent, with 
the most successful results, and I am therefore, supported in this 
opinion by the experience of others. The Belle d’Orleans is a very 
early Heart Cherry, bright red and white in colour, ripening also in 
the beginning of June, but flowering too early to escape damage 
from frost. The Governor Wood is a bright yellow and red 
Guigne, ripening about the middle of June, very hardy and vigorous 
a most abundant bearer, and a profitable market Cherry. °It is a 
popular sort in America, from whence it was introduced in Eng. 
land some years since. The next in order to ripen is the Early 
Red Guigne, a very dark red Cherry, of large size and delicate 
flavour, worthy a place in a collection, but not adapted for general 
cultivation. The Elton, a well-known early sort, ripening before 
the Bigarreau. The next in order are the well known Turkey Black 
Heart, the Bedford Prolific, a hardy variety of the Black Tartarian, 
which is too tender in this country unless grown under glass or on a 
wall, the fruit of which will hang on the tree under glass until 
August, when the Late Purple Guigne, a very fine, large, and rich* 
Cherry, ripens, hanging through August and late into September 
the Guigne de Winkler, a bright red, very juicy and sweet sort, 
ripens in September, and lasts well on the tree until October, 
closing the series of Guignes, which differ from the Bigarreau in 
the quality of the flesh, which is very tender, sprightly, and 
delicious. 
The Bigarreau Cherries are perhaps better known than the 
Guignes, the fruit is more solid in texture, and hence better 
adapted for carriage. The Bigarreau Jaboulay or Early Lyons- 
is the earliest large fruit of this series. This is a very large and- 
fine Cherry, earlier than the May Duke by some days, requiring a 
wall or an orchard house. The Bigarreau de Schreken is an early 
black sort of recent introduction, very hardy and good. The Early 
Black Bigarreau, the Early Red Bigarreau, the Bigarreau Noir de- 
Guben, precede the White Bigarreau, and are abundantly fruitful,. 
The White Bigarreau is the Cherry grown for the markets in Kent, 
the orchards being said to realise fabulous profits. The variations 
of this sort are the Bigarreau Monstrueuse de Mezel (when well grown- 
the fruit of this sort is enormous), the Bigarreau Napoleon or Late- 
Mottled Bigarreau, with numerous other synonyms, very large and 
late. The Emperor Francis, a recent introduction, is very late, 
hanging long into September under glass, this is a very large bright 
red sort, exceedingly handsome on the tree. The Late Black Bigarreau 
ripening after their light red and yellow cousins, may be described 
as very large, firm and rich flesh of a lustrous black. Placed in 
their order of ripening they consist of the Bohemian Black Bigar¬ 
reau, the Bigarreau Noir de Schmidt (an enormous fruit), the Large 
Black Bigarreau, and the Late Black Bigarreau. The Tardive de- 
Lich and the Belle Agathe are late sorts, lasting well into October 
I have named many varieties which I do not think are generally 
known, but I have cultivated them all under glass, and I have thus 
been able to take special notice of their different habits. Those 
who cultivate them in an orchard house will, I am sure, find 
the study of the variations a source of peculiar interest, and also* 
of great benefit to the fruit growing community, as it is only by 
cultivation under glass that new and possibly valuable sorts cam 
be tested. 
The Bigarreau and Guigne Cherries are of the highest value- 
as dessert Cherries, and as the fruit is said to be entirely devoid of 
acidity they are a very welcome diet to the invalid, to whom the 
tender and delicate flesh of the Guigne is better suited than the 
firm and sometimes rather hard Bigarreau. The May Duke Cherry 
is perhaps the most popular of the tribe ; at all events, we are 
most familiar with it. No boy ever seems to be surfeited, and cam 
consume an indefinite quantity. There are not many varieties, but 
some are distinct from our old English sort—not in quality, but in 
the season of ripening. The Empress Eugenie is an early varia¬ 
tion, having a maturity of some ten days earlier. The Royal Duke, 
the Duchesse de Palluau, the Gloire de France, the Archduke, and' 
the Late Duke all follow in succession. If protected by netting 
from birds these Cherries will hang some weeks on the trees, giving; 
a continual supply of fruit, either for the dessert or the kitchen. 
There are some palates which are very well satisfied with ther 
acid Cherries of the fourth class, which comprises the Kentish, the- 
Flemish, and the Morello. Of these I think the Kentish and the- 
Morello are the best. The value of the Morello is well established,, 
as it is the Cherry for preserving either in bottles or spirits. 
Cherry brandy has long been a popular cordial in England. On a 
north wall protected with netting it will last very late into the* 
autumn, and when black and thoroughly ripe the fruit is very re¬ 
freshing and grateful. The cultivation of the Cherry in orchards 
is not difficult. As I have said before, it is essential to success 
that a dry calcareous gravel be selected, but instead of plauting 
standard trees at 24 feet apart, of which the prospect of profit 
to the planter is somewhat remote, I should plant dwarf trees- 
in rows 15 feet apart row from row and 12 feet apart tree from 
tree for all Guignes and Bigarreaux, and rows 12 feet apart row 
from row, with 9 feet plant from plant, for the May Duke and: 
Morello. These trees are easier to manage, the fruit can be 
gathered without ladders, and the space between the rows can be* 
utilised for vegetable crops or for a certain number of years by 
Strawberries, Gooseberries, or Currants. The trees should be. 
pruned as little as possible, as the Guignes and Bigarreau are very, 
impatient of pruning. My own experience is that this should be* 
done in the autumn, superfluous shoots removed, and the summer 
growth thinned about the beginning of October. If severely pruned 
both these classes are inclined to gum, and then comes disease. The 
May Duke and Morello classes may be pruned in the summer and 
autumn without detriment, but as they are always inclined to- 
produce fruit in quantity the trees after a certain age will noir 
require much pruning ; it will be necessary, however, when the 
trees are grown in rows to keep the growth as far as possible in. 
the line of the rows. 
