KEGLECTED NATIVE FRUITS. 35 



black currant type, and the true Crandall is well worthy of cultiva- 

 tion. We have fruited some that were dug in Kansas and trans- 

 planted from the wild state into nursery rows. A portion of them 

 jiroduced a good crop of fine fi-uit, and others were practically worth- 

 less, showing that this fruit requires more careful selection than the 

 raspberry in order to be made profitable. 



The plum abounds in a wild state nearly all over Nebraska and is 

 doubtless better known and receives more attention than any other 

 wild fruit. We can all remember how when other fruit has failed the 

 wild plum has come nobly to the rescue. By selecting sprouts from 

 the best varieties and planting in clumps near the hennery, the wild 

 plum will pay well for all the care and cultivation bestowed upon it, 

 and will make good shelter for the chickens. 



We also have a very valuable acquisition in the way of wild cher- 

 ries, of which we have two varieties that will in time be in almost 

 every price-list issued by Nebraska nurserymen. The dwarf sand 

 cherry, or Rocky Mountain Dwarf, is worthy of a place in every 

 family garden. It is found throughout the western portion of the 

 state, and while nearly all we have found were good, still, like all 

 other fruits, some varieties are much larger and sweeter than others. 

 We notice that some nurserymen offer the Improved Dwarf Rocky 

 Mountain cherry for sale, and I believe that when we have established 

 a standard of excellence for this fruit it will be propalgated much as 

 we now propagate the standard cherry, and our neglected sand cherry 

 will become a fixture in the horticultural world. The other cherry is 

 often called and mistaken for the choke cherry, while, in fact, it is a 

 dwarf wild black cherry, having much the same flavor and somewhat 

 larger fruit. It is very useful for preserves, jellies, pies, etc. It is 

 found growing ip much the same portion of the state in which the 

 dwarf sand cherry is found, and we deem it well worthy of cultiva- 

 tion. We observed that the wild cherries will stand a much greater 

 degree of frost than many of our forest trees. Last spring, when the 

 frost of May 20 killed the ash, maple, and catalpa to the ground on 

 low land, the Dwarf Rocky Mountain cherries on the same plot were 

 uninjured. There is also a standard sand cherry tree, a native of Da- 

 kota, which attains a height of from four to six feet, but the fruit is 

 not as large as our Nebraska dwarf cherry. 



We also have a very nice ornamental shrub which produces fruit 



