CHERRIES. 



AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY, AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF STRAWBER- 

 RIES AND CHERRIES, HELD AT KALAMAZOO, JUNE 25, 1873. 



BY HENRY S. CLUBB. 



Mr. President and Fellow Members of the Pomological Society : 



At the first exhibition of strawberries aocl cherries held by the State Pomo- 

 logical Society, June IGth, ISTO, by invitation I made some remarks on 

 ^' Strawberries and Cherries," which were honored with a permanent record in 

 the proceedings of this Society, more, I presume, for the sake of completing a 

 history of the early struggles and feeble efforts of the Society than on account 

 -of any intrinsic merits. My audience on that occasion was small in numbers, 

 but as results have since proved, great in energy, in zeal, perseverance and in 

 all those high qualities of noble manhood which insure success. 



Although cherries were included in the subject of that early essay, they were 

 given a secondary place, and time failed me in doing justice to that pendent, 

 luscious and beautiful little globe, so rich in color, delicate in flavor, and so 

 fraught with health-giving blessings, which we denominate " the cherry." For 

 this reason, I presume, I have been assigned cherries as a subject for the present 

 meeting by your committee. 



I cannot say my experience is as great in the cultivation of cherries as in 

 that of strawberries ; one reason is cherries need but little cultivation. I 

 claimed for the strawberry that it is emphatically " the poor man's fruit," 

 because a good crop can be gathered within ten months of planting. The 

 cherry, although longer in coming into bearing, requires so little outlay for 

 labor and is so sure a crop, in this climate, that no fruit-grower should think 

 of planting a fruit farm without planting a good proportion of cherries, because 

 while peaches, pears, plums, and even apples sometimes fail, the common 

 Morrello cherry, and probably some other varieties, when once in bearing, 

 becomes as reliable as the commonest farm crop. 



VALUE OF THE CHERRY. 



The season of the year when the cherry is ready for market greatly enhances 

 its value as a market fruit, and indeed as a family fruit. It is the Brst tree of 

 fruit that ripens in this climate, and for cooking it has positively no successful 

 rival among the small fresh fruits of this season of the year. 



But the value of the cherry as a fruit for domestic use, as an article of food. 



