CHERRIES. (From the Florist.)

Otago Witness, Issue 555, 19 July 1862, Page 6

CHERRIES. (From the Florist.)

_ I am a great lover of birds, and also of cherries, but in the laat-mentioned love item, the birds beat me hollow, for I seldom or never see one ripe ou my standard trees in the open air ; and, if I protect my dwarf bushes with nets, the blackbirds and missel thrushes tear them open with their strong claws, and chatter defiance when I approach them. I began quite to yearn for ripe cherries; and to casfcabout how 1 should procure them, when the orchard-house culture of them occurred to me. I, therefore, consulted our oracle, and built a small span-roofed house, 25 feet by 14 feet, 9 feet high to the ridge, and 5 feet high at bides. As it is not in an ornamental part of my garden, I had the sides and ends made of f -inch boards, with a shutter on hinges a foot on each side. I made a path three feet wide along the centre, and planted on each side of it a row of nice pyramids of the compact-growing varieties, such as the May Duke, Archduke, Duchess de Palluau, Empress Eugenic, Reine Hortense, Nouvelle Royale, Royal Duke, and Coe's Carnation, all budded on the Mahaleb stock, and planted about two feet three inches apart. Behind them, next to the sides, I placed some low pyramids and bushes of the Bigarreau and heart cherries, budded on the common cherry stock; and. as these cherries are all vigorous growers when planted out, I had them potted in 13-inch pots, in some light sandy loam and manure from • an old hotbed, twothirds of the former to one of the latter, well rammed down, so that the surface of the earth was quite hard. On this hard surface I placed in March some manure two inches thick. My success last summer (1861) was quite- refreshing, for the yery few cherries on my trees in the open air were quickly despatched by my singing friends, the blackbirds and thrushes ; but my house, full of fine ripe fruit, w*s effectually "tabooed" in this way. As soon aa my cherries began to color— i.e., when boys gobble them' down declaring they are ripe— l had the shutters opened and some iron wire netting, with meshes about- an inch in diameter, placed over the apertures"occupied by the shutters when closed. This was nailed firmly iuside to the side 3of the house, so as effectually to resist the fingers of boys and the claws of birds. ; By placing it inside, it does not hinder the shuttere being closed when the house requires fumigation; which with cherries, so liable as they are to be infested with black aphis, is frequently necessary. This is one o the reasons why I recommend cherries to be cultivated in small houses, appropriated to them -only, rather than large housesjwith other orchard'-housetreei. Another reason is, that they require less syringing* than peaches and nectarines, for a thorough syringing once a-week, before eight a.m., during the growing season, will keep the leaves and fruit free from dust, and as soon as the latter commences to colour, this may be discontinued, or the large and fine sorts; Buch as the Eiton, Bigarreau, and others, are apt to crack. Cherries while ripening delight in a dry warm atmosphere, such as they rarely have in England in the open air, but which in an orchard-house exists in perfection.

In the commencement of this article I have named such compact-growing sorts as may be cultivated as pyramids, and planted out on each side of the central path. I will now point out some varieties which succeed best when grafted on the common cherrystock, and which are of too vigorous habits to be planted out in a small house, but which may be cultivated with great success iv 18-inch pots. The most select of this class are the Elton, Downton, Bigarreau, Black Tartarian, Belle d'Orleans, Early Purple Guigne, Florence, Knight's" Early Black, Bigarreau Napoleon, Governor Wood (an American sort), and some of the French- Guigne cherries which do not succeed well in the open air iv England, such as the Guigne Grosse Noire, Guigne Grosse Rouge, Guigne Rouge Tardive, Guigne Marbree Precoce, Guigne Marguerite, and some others. The Late Duke and Moreilo should not be omitted, for, if kept from wasps by the trees- being enclosed in bags of tiffany, they may be had in perfection til! late in October.

All cherries under glass, whether planted out or in pots, must be under one system of pruning, or rather pinching, for as soon as a young shoot has made five or six leaves, its top should be pinched or cut off to three full-sized leaves, not counting too of three at the base, which are generally small, and without buda in their axils. This pinching process* must be continned all through the summer, till the 'trees cease to make youn°; shoots. My cherries commenced to ripen iast year (lSb'l) something in the following order :— The Empress Eugenic was the first to show color, followed closely by the May Duke) but the first that ripened were the early Purple Guigne and Belie d'Orleana, and this was the first week in June or thereabouts. The latter kind is remarkable for its sweetness, but it is not so piquant as the former Empress Eugenic is much like the May Duke— not quite so rich ; but, from its ripening eight or ten' days before it, it is valuable, and it bears abundantly. Among early kinds Knight's Early • Black takes a j high rank, and that very old rather acid small cherry, | the Early May, is really worthy of a pot, for it ripens very early, and in a sunny season in May, thus doing justice to its name. The Elton is remarkable for its i fertility, and the richness of it 3 flavor when grown under glass; and the Florence, with ita firm flesh, when fully ripe in August, is excellent. I need not, however, particularise any further, for, as far as my experience has gone, all cherries, wkea well ripened, are most agreeable. The great satisfaction a cherryhouse gives is the certainty of your fruit being safe from boys and birds ; , and I felt pleasure last year when, towards the last week in May, I saw my trees full of fruit, just showing their cherry summer-re- • minding tints— put a padlock on the door, ami put the key in my pocket, only to be delivered occasionally to a trusty man, who gave the trees water when they required it. My cherry-eating visits to my house continued to September, and it waa really a pleasure— although a small one— to watch the progwss of my trees, to taste the different varieties, aud to take notes as to their periods of ripening and their qualities. As small pleasures help to brighten tha path of life, allow mo to advise some of your readers to build a cherry-house, and try and find one most agreeable source of satisfaction. Cerasui.

SHEEP FOR AGRICULTURAL FARMS. On this subject a correspondent of the Adelaide Observer gives the following as the result of Mb experience :— " Slit,— Having made some experiments xn crossing the English long-woolled breeds of sheep- with the merino, I have much pleasure in communicating the result, believing it will be interesting (if not useful) to some of our farmers. In May and Juue, 1860, I had about 800 lambs dropped from merino ewes, by rams of three English long-woolled breeds, viz., Lincolns, Cotswolds, and Romuey Marsh or Kent. The ewes were full-mouthed, large and heavy fleeced pure merinoes, from the Booborowie flock. About twelve per cent, of the ewes required assistance in lambing from the large size of the heads and fore-quarters o the lambs, and about two per cent, of the ewes died from the same cause. " I sold 100 of the wether lambs in the Adelaide market, when they were from thirteen to fifteen weeks old, at 13s each. Those of them which I saw weighed ranged between 811b and 431b each. The remainder were shorn in the grease the first week in October. The 653 lambs yielded net 2,4251b wool, averaging say 31b ll^oz each, which was sold in the London l-ebmary, sales 1861, at lOJlb per 1b — say, 3s 3d per lamb. "This wool was depreciated in- value at least lid perlb from the clover burrs in it, which the lambs picked up in the Pnrt Gawler paddocks, where they were kept till weaned. After this (the 15th NovemberUhey were kept on the Light Plain, in a flock with about 1,000 merino wethers, until the first week in October, 1861, when they were again shorn in the grease. At this time they were two-tooths, and had exactly a year's fleece on them. The 684 sheep yielded 4,9211b wool net, 71b 12oz per' sheep, which Bold iv the London sales of February, 1862, at 12id per lb l say, 8s OJd per fleece. - i r ' I "They were' quite fat at shearing time: and although the greater proportion were ewes, they were estimated to weigh from t>9lb to 631b each. " I Infer from the above experiments, that the cross between the English long-woolled sheep aad the merino is moie suitable for agricultural farms than the merino, because they will produce riibre meat at an earlier age, and if kept till they arrive at maturity, mil weigh at least one-half more than the merinothey produce more wool, equally as valuable as the ordinary merino fleece of this colony • they do better in a confined pasture, ale more docile and domestic in their habits j they walk about bo little compared with the merino, and consequently destroy so much less food with their feet that I am disposed to think nearly as many could be kept on th« same area. < " If there were no other objections, I consider their indolent habits would render them very unsuitable for our thinly -grassed northern ruus. "The Lincoln cross have grown the largest, and produced the most valuable fleece, both in weight arid quality, having a peculiar lustre, like raw silk "The Cotswold cross are the smallest in size' yet produced a fleece nearly equal in weight to the Lincoln. The Kent cross produced the fattest 'and best early lambs ; but its fleece, both in weight and quality, was much inferior to the other two. " «PortGawler r Mayll.» " J - H « Baow » s -"

The following extract from -a private letter, received by a person in Auckland, "dated from Rampore, in India, May 3, appears in tlie Daily Southern Cross of June 27 : — "Last month (April) a fearful gale passed over this" place/ Twelve (12) villages a few miles off were entirely swept away; One hundred and ssventy-six (176) persons -we're killed, and many more wounded, People we're found hanging in the titees dead-^ bio wfi 'there. Cattle taken and dashed down and their necks broken. The full forceof tbi gale did not reach this station," It Would seem that no part, of .the. world h»3 b^e*empt ,a^ year from frjgUtful pies, - *-st-t<