THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK I3I 



name having been shortened by the American Pomological Society, though, 

 since the variety goes back to the Early Purple of Ray in 1688, the name 

 here used has the right of precedence. As to what the origin and history 

 of the variety were before Ray mentioned it, we can find no record. Early 

 Purple was brought to America over a hundred years ago. According to 

 Elliott, eastern growers received it directly from England, while in the 

 West it was brought over by a party of German emigrants, under the name 

 " German May Duke " and as such it is still much grown in localities in 

 the Central West. In 1852, the American Pomological Society listed 

 Early Purple as one of the promising new fruits and later, in 1856, it was 

 given a place, which it has since retained, on the Society's catalog of fruits 

 recommended for general cultivation. 



Tree large, \-igorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, very productive; trunk thick, 

 smooth; branches smooth, reddish-brown partly covered with ash-gray, with large lenticels; 

 branchlets short, brown partly covered with ash-gray, roughened, ^-ith a few small, incon- 

 spicuous lenticels. 



Leaves numerous, four inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded 

 upward, oval to obovate, thin; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface light green, 

 ver>' lightly pubescent; apex and base acute; margin finely serrate, with small, dark 

 colored glands; petiole one and three-fourths inches long, slender, tinged with red, with 

 few hairs, with two or three small, globose, reddish glands on the stalk. 



Buds variable in size and shape, rather long, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral 

 buds and in small clusters on spurs variable in length; season of bloom early; flowers 

 white, one and one-fourth inches across; borne in scattering clusters, usually in twos; 

 pedicels characteristically long, often one and one-fourth inches, slender, glabrous; calyx- 

 tube with a faint tinge of red, campanulate; calyx-lobes tinged with red, long, acute, 

 serrate, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals broadly oval, serrate, with short, 

 blunt claws and a shallow, notched apex; filaments one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, 

 shorter than the stamens. 



Fruit matures very early; one inch in diameter, cordate, slightly compressed; cavity 

 regular; suture a faint line; apex pointed; color purplish-black; dots numerous, small, 

 grayish, obscure; stem tinged with red, slender, nearly two inches long, adhering to the 

 fruit; skin thin, tender, separating readily from the pulp; flesh dark reddish-purple, with 

 dark colored juice, tender, melting, mild, sweet; of very good quality; stone free except 

 along the ventral suture, rather large, broadly oval, compressed near the apex, with smooth 

 surfaces. 



EARLY RICHMOND 

 Prunus cerasus 



I. Thacher Am. Orch. 217. 1822. 2. Prince Pom. Man. 2:142. 1832. 3. Elliott Fr. Book 194, 

 195 fig. 1854. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 12. 1871. 5. Del. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:115 %•. 116. 1900. 

 Flanders. 6. Parkinson Par. Ter. 571. 1629. 



