6. The Mahaleb is probably the more cosmopolitan stock—will thrive on a greater diversity of soils than the Mazzard stock. In particular it is somewhat better adapted to sandy, light, stony, and arid soils that are not well adapted to growing cherries. Its root system is much nearer the surface of the ground and it is, therefore, better adapted to shallow soils than the Mazzard.
7. Though the evidence is somewhat conflicting on this point it is probable that cherries on Mazzard live longer than on Mahaleb. It may be that the frequent statements to this effect arise from the knowledge that dwarf fruit-trees are generally shorter lived than standard trees since there seem to be no records of actual comparisons.
8. Lastly, in climates where the cherry can be grown with reasonable certainty and in soils to which this fruit is adapted, varieties on Mazzard are more productive and profitable than on the Mahaleb stock. This seems to be the concensus of opinion among growers in the great cherry regions of California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New York.
Several other stocks have been more or less successfully used for cherries and a great number have never been tried that might make good stocks. In a country as diversified as ours and in a state as variable in soil and climate as New York and with the manifold varieties of Sweet and Sour Cherries, it is almost certain that under some conditions there are stocks more desirable than either Mazzard or Mahaleb. The resources of the cherry-grower in this direction are so great that in this account we can but briefly outline them, describing but a few of the many stocks that might be used.
In the colder parts of New York and of the United States, undoubtedly seedlings of Russian cherries would make hardy and in most other respects very desirable stocks. These Russian cherries, too, as a rule, come nearly or quite true to seed, making very good orchard plants on their own roots. Some of them, if not most of them, sprout rather badly—not so serious a fault as one might think, especially in a cultivated orchard. For budding over to other varieties only sour sorts should be used, taking for trial such varieties as Bessarabian, Brusseler Braune, Double Natte, George Glass, Lutovka, Early Morello, Ostheim and Vladimir. Probably most of these would dwarf standard varieties more or less but in no case is it to be supposed that they would have the dwarfing effect of Mahaleb. In the North Mississippi Valley some of these, especially of the Ostheim or Morello type, have been very successfully used as stocks.
The small, wild, red cherry locally known as the Bird, Pin and as the Pigeon Cherry, Prunus pennsylvanica, found from the Atlantic to the eastern slopes of the Coast Range on the Pacific in northern United States and southern Canada, is often used as a hardy stock. The writer has seen it so used in northern Michigan but from his observation can recommend it only for cold regions and as a makeshift since it dwarfs standard varieties and usually suckers badly. W. T. Macoun, Ottawa, Canada, Dominion Horticulturist, states that this stock is commonly used in the colder parts of Canada and with good results. This cherry is not as distantly related to orchard varieties as the Mahaleb and unites with Sour Cherries at least as readily as does the Mahaleb.
In the West and Northwest the Sand Cherry, Prunus pumila, is used very successfully in cold, dry regions as a stock for Sour Cherries. The following is a very good account of its behavior from the pen of the late Professor J. L. Budd, a pioneer cherry grower in the Middle West.[51]
"Those who have seen acres of the Sandy Cherry in the northwest loaded with fruit have not been ready to believe it a good stock for the cherry on account of its sprawling bushy habits of growth. But those who have watched its growth when young under culture on rich soil can comprehend the fact that it is as easy to work as the Mahaleb. As with the Mahaleb the seedlings grown in seed bed will be large enough to set in nursery row the next spring, and of good size for August budding. To illustrate its rapidity and uprightness of growth I will state that we rooted a few cuttings in plant house last winter. When set in nursery they had made a show of growth of from two to four inches, yet at budding time, the middle of August, they were fully as large, stocky and upright as the Mahalebs, and in all respects in as perfect condition for budding.
"This hardiest of all cherries is very closely related to our garden cherries, so nearly indeed that our botanists long ago decided that valuable crosses on it might be made.
"As yet its use for stocks is somewhat experimental, but we can say positively that it united well with our hardy sorts in budding, and it does not dwarf the sorts worked upon it to a greater extent during the first five years of growth than does the Mahaleb."
PRUNUS MAHALEB