THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 1 89 



otir Northern Central States it has proved one of the hardiest of all varieties 

 but has not, as yet, gained much reputation commercially even in these 

 cold regions. It is mentioned but seldom in the Hterature and is listed by 

 but few nvirserymen. 



Tree of medium size, vigorous, spreading, with drooping branchlets, open-topped, 

 unproductive; trunk thick and smooth; branches rather slender, long, sUghtly roughened, 

 reddish-browTi partly overspread with ash-gray, with ntimerous rather small lenticels; 

 branchlets slender and willowj', with short intemodes, brown nearly covered vnth ash- 

 gray, smooth except for the lenticels, which are small, numerous, raised, conspicuous. 



Leaves of medium number, three and one-fourth inches long, one and three-fourths 

 inches wide, folded upward, obovate to elliptical, thick, stiff; upper surface very dark 

 green, glossy, smooth; lower surface medium green, finely pubescent along the midrib and 

 larger veins; apex and base acute; margin finely and doubly serrate, with small, dark glands; 

 petiole three-fourths of an inch long, thick, tinged with dviU red, grooved, with a few hairs 

 along the upper surface, with from one to four small, globose, orange-colored glands usually 

 at the base of the blade. 



Buds smaU, short, variable in shape, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and 

 in few, very small clusters; time of blooming mid-season; flowers one and three-sixteenths 

 inches across, white; borne in dense clusters usually at the ends of branches or spurs, well 

 distributed, usually in threes; pedicels over one-half inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx- 

 tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, serrate, glabrous within and 

 without, reflexed; petals roimdish, entire, nearly sessile, with almost entire apex; filaments 

 one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. 



Fruit matures early; about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, oblate, not compressed; 

 cavity of mediimi depth, narrow, abrupt; suture lacking; apex flattened or strongly 

 depressed; color bright currant-red; dots numerous, light colored, slightly conspicuous ; stem 

 thick, less than one inch long, adherent to the fruit ; skin rather tough, separating from the 

 pulp; flesh pale yellow, with colorless juice, tender and melting, sour; of good quality; 

 stone semi-free, clinging only along the ventral suture, about one-third inch in diameter, 

 roundish, slightly flattened, bltmt, with smooth surfaces. 



SPARHAWK 



Prunus avium 



1. Kenrick Am. Orch. 219, 220. 1835. 



Sparhawk's Honey. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 177. 1845. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 74. 1862. 

 4. Mas Le Verger 8:143, 144, fig. 70. 1866-73. 



Honey Heart. 5. Cole Am. Fr. Book 234 fig. 37, 235. 1849. 



Sparhawk has little to recommend it for either a home or commercial 

 orchard; but the rich and honeyed sweetness of the cherries, scarcely sur- 

 passed in flavor, might make it worth planting by plant-breeders and 

 connoisseurs of choicely good fniits. The name " honey " which appears 

 in several of the synonyms is indicative of the flavor of the fniit. The 



