58 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is much more desirable, and the most responsive to cultivation according 

 to my observation." 



Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). 



Here I refer to the common wild black cherry, of the eastern states, 

 which has crept into eastern Nebraska, following the wooded bluffs of 

 the Missouri river. Ever since my boyhood days I have felt that a cherry 

 with so good a taste ought to be improved in size, and made to yield a 

 larger amount of flesh for a given amount of stone. It is unquestionably 

 worthy of your careful attention. 



Western Black Cherry (Prunus melanocarpa). 



On the plains we have a smaller tree that produces larger cherries, 

 and that I feel is even more desirable as an original stock than the east- 

 ern wild black cherry. This western species has been slandered by hav- 

 ing bestowed upon it the name of choke cherry, although it is not a choke 

 cherry at all. It often grows as a slender shrub, and at the height of 

 four to five feet it is sometimes loaded with fruit. I found the ripe cher- 

 ries to have a rather thick flesh of a very good taste, and I have eaten 

 pies made of them, and pronounced them very good indeed. This species 

 is well worthy of the serious attention of every fruit grower of an ex- 

 perimental turn of mind. "" 



Wild Plums (Prunus sp.). 



These have been brought under cultivation to such an extent that 

 they have given us most of the successful varieties for the prairies and 

 Great Plains, 



Wild Grapes (Vitis sp.). 



While it appears that our wild grapes have in the past received the 

 attention of experimental fruit growers, it is still true that very little is 

 being done in this direction in Nebraska at the present time. Any one 

 who has paid any attention to the wild grapes in his neighborhood has 

 observed that they are quite variable in regard to the size and quality 

 of the grapes. This should suggest the probability that under cultiva- 

 tion our wild grapes would respond most profltably. We can not afford 

 to let these really good wild grapes grow in the unappreciated way that 

 has prevailed so largely in the past. Last fall Professor Gilmore, whom 

 I have already quoted twice in connection with other fruits, brought me 

 a bottle of unfermented grape juice made from wild grapes gathered on 

 the Omaha Indian Reservation in the northeastern part of the state, and 

 I can personally testify to' the very superior quality of the product. In 

 fact, I don't think I have ever tasted as good a quality of grape juice 

 manufactured from the cultivated grape. 



Now all of the foregoing fruits may be said to be practically certain 

 to make a profitable response to cultivation, so that all that is needed is 



