328 



SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



main very g^ood. TIk' variety can be distinguished by the large 

 spreadiiiji: tree; by liardiness, vi«(or, health- 

 fulness, and fruitfulness. Curtis Coe, Mid- 

 dletown, Connecticut, «irew tliis variety early 

 in the nineteenth century from a pit of Ox 

 Heart. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright -spreading, open, 

 very productive. Leaves numerous, 4i/i inches long, 

 2^4 inches wide; margin coarsely serrate, with small 

 black glands; petiole 1% inches long, grooved, 

 hairy, with 2-3 large, reniform, greenish-yellow or 

 reddish glands. Flowers midseason, l\i inches 

 across, white; borne in dense clusters, in twos and 

 threes. Fruit early; 1 inch in diameter, round cor- 

 date, compressed; cavity regular, abrupt; suture in- 

 distinct; apex blunt-pointed or slightly depressed; 

 color pale amber faintly mottled with red; dots 

 small, light yellow, inconspicuous; stem slender, lY^ 

 inches long, adherent to the pulp; flesh pale yellow, 

 with colorless juice, tender, meaty, mild, sweet; 



good to very good in quality; stone semi-free or free, flattened, Ijlunt, 



with smooth surfaces. 



Fig. 15.^. Coe. 



Group 4. Dark-colored Hearts 



508. Knight Early Black (Fig. 156).— 

 Possibly Knight Early Black is found in 

 home gardens in eastern United States as 

 often as any other sweet cherry. The char- 

 acters which give it popularity are chiefly 

 those of its fruits, which are excellent in 

 quality and handsome in appearance. The 

 cherries are of a glossy dark purple color, 

 and are uniform in color, shape, and size. 

 Knight, in size, color and flavor of fruit is 

 much like Black Tartarian, but the cherries 

 are smaller and ripen earlier. The trees are 

 about all that could be desired in a sweet 

 cherry; these are characteristically marked 

 by smooth bark dotted with large lenticels. 

 Knight came from T. A. Knight, Downton 

 Castle, Wiltshire, England, about 1810. 



Fig. 150. Knight 

 Early Black. 



