VARIETIES OF CHERRIES 



331 



Group 12. Large Dukes 



521. Reine Hortense (Fig. 168) takes high rank among hybrid 



cherries. The fruit is excellent in qual- 

 ity, its flavor being a commingling of the 

 refreshing acidity of the sour cherry and 

 the richness of the sweet cherry. The fruits 

 are also handsome, being large, round, 

 bright glossy red, with a shade of amber, 

 and very uniform in size, color, and shape. 

 The chief faults of the variety are in the 

 trees, which are of medium size, not pro- 

 ductive, and at their best only in choice 

 cherry soils. M. Larose of Neuilly-sur- 

 Seine, France, grew the original tree early 

 in the nineteenth century. It was brought 

 to America about 1850. 



Tree of medium size, upright -spreading, unproduc- 

 tive. Fruit midseason, 1 inch in diameter, oblong- 

 conic, compressed; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt, 

 often lipped; suture indis- 

 tinct; apex rounded with a 

 small depression at the cen- 

 ter ; color amber-red ; dots nu- 

 merous, light russet, conspicuous; stem tortuous, 

 slender, li/4 inches long, adherent to the fruit; 

 skin tender, separating from the pulp; flesh pale 

 yellow, with colorless juice, tender and melting, 

 sprightly subacid; of very good quality; stone free, 

 large, oval, flattened, blunt, with smooth surfaces. 



522. Late Duke (Fig. 169) is a variant 

 of the well-known Ma}^ Duke, ripening from 

 two weeks to a month later. The cherries 

 are not quite so sweet as those of May Duke, 

 a little more marbled in color or skin, and 

 ripen through a longer season. The trees 

 are readily distinguished from those of the 

 earlier Duke, being more open and spread- 

 ing, scanter of foliage, with more slender 

 branches and fruit more thickly clustered 



Fig. 168. Reine 

 Hortense. 



Fig. 



169. Late 

 Duke. 



