6o THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



at Flushing, Long Island, in 1730, by Robert Prince, founder of the nursery 

 which afterwards became the famous Linnaean Botanic Garden. At what 

 date this nursery began to offer named cherries for sale cannot be said 

 but advertisements appearing in 1767, 1774 and 1794 show that budded 

 or grafted named cherries were being offered for sale by the Princes. In 

 1804, William Prince, third proprietor of the famous Flushing nursery, 

 prepared a list of the named cherries then under cultivation in America 

 for Willich's Domestic Encyclopaedia, an English work which was being 

 edited and made " applicable to the present situation of the United States " 

 by Dr. James Mease. The following is Prince's list:^ 



"May Diike, ripe in May and June: long stem, round and red, an 

 excellent cherry, and bears well. 



"Black Heart, ripe in June: a fine cherry. 



"White Heart (or Sugar Cherry) ripe in June: white and red. 



" Bleeding Heart, ripe in June; a very large cherry of a long form and 

 dark colour; it has a pleasant taste. 



"Ox Heart, ripe in June: a large, firm, fine cherry. 



" Spanish Heart, ripe in June. 



" Carnation, ripe in July, it takes its name from its coloiu:, being red 

 and white, a large round cherry, but not very sweet. 



"Amber, ripe in July. 



" Red Heart, do. 



" Late Duke, do. 



"Cluster, planted more for ornament, or curiosity than any other 

 purpose. 



" Double Blossoms, ripe in July. 



"Honey Cherry, do. small sweet cherry. 



"Kentish cherry, ripe in July. 



" Mazarine, do. 



"Morello, do. and August; a red, acid cherry, the best for preserving, 

 and for making cherry-brandy. 



"Early Richmond Cherry. This fruit originated near Richmond in 

 Virginia, and is the earliest cherry in America, and valuable on that 

 account; it is the size of a May Duke, and resembles it in form. 



"Red Bigereau, a very fine cherry, ripe in July, of a heart shape. 



"White Bigereau, ripe in July and August: remarkably firm, heart 

 shaped. 



"Large Double Flowering Cherry. This tree produces no fruit but 

 makes a handsome appearance in the spring, when it is covered with 

 clusters of double flowers as large as the cinnamon rose; it differs from 



' Willich Domestic Encyclopaedia 105. 1804. 



