EARLY EIVERS CHERRY. 265 



EARLY RIVERS CHERRY. 



WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 



HE name of Mr. Elvers has been associated with the raising of new fruits, 

 more especially in connection v.'ith Peaches and Nectarines, of which he has 

 \i given our gardens some of the finest that are now in cultivation ; but for 

 (Sf some years he has also been engaged in endeavouring to raise early Cherries 

 which would supersede the old Early Purple Gean, which is notoriously a bad 

 one to propagate, and in addition, has a bad constitution. The early quality is, 

 however, so well-developed in this variety, that Mr. Rivers selected it as a basis on 

 which to work, and after many attempts he raised a seedling from it, which com- 

 bined its early-ripening habit with a hardier constitution. This seedling is the 

 Early Rivers Cherry, represented at fig. 1 of the accompanying Plate. In refer- 

 ence to it, Mr. Rivers, in a communication to the Journal of Horticulture^ says : — 



"It is now many years since the Early Purj^le Guigne Cherry was distributed by the Horti- 

 cultural Society among its Fellows. I have bad it more than twenty years, and always noticed 

 with interest its earliness and excellence ; but its delicate habit, it being liable to canker and 

 gum, prevented its extensive cultivation. It is but a few years since it occurred to mo to 

 improve it by raising seedlings from it, and then again I found difficulty in procuring fiuit 

 thoroughly ripe, for the stones from imripo friiit would not vegetate. This is a common 

 thing with early fruits ; the pulpy covering ripens, but not the seeds. At last the orchard- 

 houso came to my aid, and in the hot summer of 18G5 some stones from very flnc ripe fruit 

 wore sown. In 186(J they made plants from 1 ft. to 2 ft. high. In that summer their tops were 

 cut off, and their buds placed in some Mahaleb stocks. In 18G7 they made a fmo growth of 

 some 4 ft. to 5 ft. In the autumn of the same year they were potted ; in 1868, in the orchard- 

 house, they formed blossom-buds; in 1869 Early Rivers bore its first crop; in 1870 and 1871 

 the tree bore abundantly, and its fruit were as largo as those of its parent, a trifle later, but 

 very rich and good, and the tree luxuriant and healthy." 



The Monstrous Heart Cherry (fig. 2) or Bigarrcau Gros Coeuret^ of which we 

 add a portrait, is a very old variety of Cherry, having been described by Duhamel, 

 Mayer, Kraft, and all the noted pomologists of the last centur)'. Its great size, 

 fine colour, excellent flavour, and generally handsome appearance commend it as 

 a variety worthy of general cultivation. The tree bears abundantly, and grows 

 to a large size, with a spreading habit. The sort is admirably adapted for 

 orchard-planting, where the fruit is sent some distance to market, as it bears 

 carriage well, and will keep fresh for several days, provided it is gathered dry. 

 As will be seen from our figure, which does not exaggerate it, the fruit is of a 

 large size, as broad as high, of a regular heart-shape, and marked with a well- 

 defined suture, which is rather deep towards the stalk, but shallow and faint at 

 the apes, where it is marked with a distinct style-point, which is rather promi- 

 nent. The stalk is greenish, from 2 in. to 2i in. long, set in a wide but not deep 

 cavity. Skin rather thick and membranous, adhering closely to the flesh, 

 smooth and shining, changing as it ripens from yellowish-white to golden-yellow, 

 splashed and streaked with bright red. Flesh firm, crackling, yellowish-white, 

 with a few faint stains of red next the stone ; juicy and richly flavoured. It is 

 ripe in the middle of July. 



The accompanying illustrations have been prepared from specimens con- 

 3bd series. — VI. N 



