Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-16
A FEE " rIiotGurs On CuEaR.Es.

thing like this: II would like the
best ofall things, to have some Cherry
trees, but 1 hare such poor luck scith
them. They are so apt to die, and if
they do Hrc at first, they sometimes
die after they are large enough to
bear To his / respond, that there
is no tree in the whole catalogue of
fruit. that is so certain to grow and
do well when transplanted, as the
cherry But there is one cause, which
more than all others, is usually the
reason for this poor success in grow
ing the cherry, that many are not
aware of. II the tree is planted on
nat ground acheye the acdter cannot
run 9T, IL is almost sme to die. A case
in point: A few years ago, about
midsummer, as l was passing the
house of Uncle Daniel Miller, who
then lived on his farm three or four
miles north of town, he called to me
saying: "Can You tell me what is the
matter of my cherry treess They
were apparently in good health two
days ago, but now the leaves are all
withered.' On examining the trees
! told him they reye drowncd. hut he
replied: "Impossiblc! for this is the
drycst ground | have on my farm"
said: What is this on the lower side
OF the trees? Here is a hard foot
path that dams up the water and will
not let 1t run off; bring spade and
let's Olga trench, and we will soon
see what's the matter !" The trench
being dug through the path, q volume
OF water poured ont like small riv-
uict. The facts were that heavy rains
for several days had been falling, and
the ground was thoroughly saturated
with water, and the hard path below
the cherry trees preventing its escape,
the hot sun Immediately following
had scalded the roots, the sap had
sourcd, and the leaves withered in
twenty-four hours.
II Is an old adagc that ''no fruit tree
can bear Wet Feet. but this is notori
ously true with the cherry. Such a
condition Of the soil puts At IN certain
peru Of ats life. II you have no other
place hut fiat surface to plant them,
then plant shallow and mound up
around the tree. A wagon load or
more of dirt is not too much for each
tree. and poor clay or sand is better
than rich soil for this purpose.
The highest, d1yest and poorest soil
that can be found, whether clay or
sand, is far the best situation for cher
ries. could cite instance after in
stance where cherry trees thus situ-
ated are more healthy, more hardy
and more productive than those on
rich soils. But it should not be for
! hnx t,,an al
and exhausted by continuous and
heavy fruit bearing, il then needs
supporting food in the shape ofrotted
manure applied in alternate years
with lime and ashes-the manure one
year, the line and ashes the next.
A tree planted near we'll or cellar.
thus providing perfect drainage TO
the roots will prove an immense
bearer. Cherries are usually graft
cd on the Morello or Mahaleb stock.
The Mahalcb is wild cherry from
France, and trees graftedon this stock
will not sprout from the roots, which
is n great consideration but the stock
is not quite so hardy as tho Morello,
and the trees should be banked up
around at least six inches above the
point of union between the stock and
graft. The Early May or Richmond
and the English Morello are the only
two varieties except the common Mo-
relic that have hitherto proven suf-
ticiently hardy for the climate Of mid
die aud northern Iowa. The Rich
mond is well known and needs no
commentator, but the English Mo-
relic is not so generally known, and
is worthy of better acquaintance. Ii
has q harder fruit bud, is later in put
ting forth in the spring, and is q more
certain bearer than the Richmond.
The cherry Is large, dark red and
heart shaped rather acid, but rich
and good for cooking; ripens about
three weeks later than the Richmond.
There is now another cherry that is
bidding up for popularity. mean
the "Licb Cherry For four or five
years past have been noticing in the
horticultural reports very flattering
accounts of this cherry. The reports
have uniformly been so .1arO1dble that
| have telt q great anxiety to get hold
of some of the trees for trial. This
winter see them offered for sale and
have taken pains to get the hest in
formation | could concerning them.
and loarn that q German living at
lAssle..s, Ill.y-Assssssss :. ~ -.
him from Germany twenty-five years
ago. Tho original tree is still stand
'ng, healthy, hardy, productive. and
annually bearing heavy crops. The
fruit belongs to the class ofsour cher
rics, resembling somewhat both the
Richmond and the May-Dnkc,-is
better favored than the Richmond
and largcr,-two Liebs weighing as
much as three Richmonds, ripening
about ten days latcr, and the tree
more hardy, and y more constant
bearer.
The character Of this cherry Is so
well supported by reliable testimony
that entertain very sanguine hopes
that n new and valuable cherry is
about to he added to the small list of
varieties adapted to our climate.