CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

276 THE NURRER~‘-111,4NUAI,must, be stratified and kept very cool to prevent germination, andthey should be sown at the earliest possible moment. They donot need to be cracked by hatitl. t ‘are must be taken that cherrypits do not become hard and dry. This precaution is more importantwith cherries than with peaches and plums. At the closeof the first season, the seedlings will be a foot or foot and a halfhigh, large enough to transplant into nursery rows, after the mannerof apples, where they are budded the following season (secondseasdn f roni t lie seed). In warm climat.es the pits are sometimescracked as soon as they are gathered, anti the ‘I meats ” plantedimmediately. They n-ill then make stocks fit for grafting theensuing winter, or for transplanting and budding the followingsummer.(.‘herries, in common with o-ther stone fruits, grow readily fromroot-cuttings, in the same way as blackberries. They do better ifstartecl over a gentle heat.The mazzard cherry is the stock on which cherries are recommendedto be worked. It is a hardy and vigorous variety, withinferior fruit, of the common sweet cherry (Prunes aGum). Seedsof this are readily procured in this country. As a matter of fact,. however, nearI>* all sour cherries are worked on the mahaleb in thiscountry, as tlltiy take better on it, and the stocks are cheap. Sweetcherries are often budded on the mahaleb, but it is a questionwhether such practice is best. The mazzard is such a stronggrower that the I)ucl is often “ drowned out ” by the flow of sap.To avoid this esuberance, nurserymen often pinch in the tips ofthe stocks a few days before they are to be worked. The mazzardis also liable to leaf-blight, and to serious injury from the blackaphis, so that thtl bark often sets before the operator has had timeto finish his plantation. Mazzards usually have a shorter buddingseason than lnallalet)s, and are less uniform in behavior ; and forthese reasons, mahalebs are widely used.Malialcb is 8 distinct species, P1’21.17218 nhiln~rJh, from southernEurope. The seeds or stocks of it are imported. Mahaleb st.ocksare recommended in the books for dwarfing the cherry, but thetluarfing depends more on pruning than on the mahalel) root.The mahalcl) is naturallJ7 a smaller tree than the mazzard, however.It is said that the mahaleb is better adapted to heavy claysoils than the mazzard, l)ut. in practice it is used indiscriminatelyfor all soils and nearly all varieties.Morelin ( 1’~~ if ,7,, C%~flsus) stocks will no doubt prove to be