^^^^z 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



A Cherry Festival. — On the 22cl of Juno last Mr. F. R. Ei.uot, of Cleveland, 01ii«), 

 invited his poniolo<iical friends to a Chary Festival, on which occasion tlic famous seedling' 

 varieties raised by l>r. J. P. Kirtland were to bo served up before the critical guests. The 

 holding of a local horticultural exhibition, and some other circumstances, deprived us of 

 the great pleasure of attending, but a i)rivate note from one of tlie guests has given us a 

 lively account of the proceedings. A large number were in attendance, chiefly from tho 

 west, and spent two days and one evening, not only in tasting cherries, and discussing their 

 merits, but in various other modes of enjoyment, which had been liberally provided for 

 them. Dr. Kenxicctt has kindly furnished us the following olT-hand notes, showing how 

 the aftair was conducted, and what the results were : 



Friend Barry : We all regretted your absence at the Cherry Festival, but your excuse was a 

 sufficient one. We are bound to attend to the affairs of our local societies in preference to distant 

 interests ; and yet, as the editor of our Ilorliculturist, you ought to have been excused by your 

 association, for of all otliers you should li.ive seen and been enabled to give a just and reliable 

 account of the great show of Cherries, to which we were introduced by Professor Kirtland and 

 F. R. Elliott. 



Your letter to Mr. Elliott was handed to mc, and I would gladly comply with his request to 

 act for him in giving you "some account of the matter;" but a week's absence leaves little 

 leisure from needful business and correspondence, and I had to prepare matter for my own paper 

 forthwith, and any thing for yours must go this mail, or reach you too late for "August number." 



It is well known to tlic old readers of the Horlicidturist, that Dr. Kirtland has been long 

 engaged iu testing seedling Cherries from the old Yellow Spanish, fcrtihzed by Black Tartarian, 

 American Amber, May Duke, and Arch Duke, and, possibly, other varieties; tliough these sorts 

 grew beside the tree of Yellow Spanish that furnished the seeds of these Kirtland Cherries, 

 (which F. R. Elliott has occasionly described,) and many others, not yet brought into notice on 

 account of the great reluctance of the Doctor to permit a fruit, not fully equal to the best, to get 

 abroad before the produce of years has given repeated testimony in favor of the claims of the 

 new candidate for notice. 



The way the Doctor managed with us showed both sensitiveness and confidence. Mr. Elliott 

 took us all up to Rockport before showing us the Cherries of his own planting ; and there we 

 found Dr. Kirtland, prepared to get a candid opinion from every one, not capable of determining 

 the identity of a variety, when placed along side of others the most nearly resembling it. Some 

 twenty or thirty dishes of Cherries were arranged, designated by numbers alone ; and as the 

 variety passed round, we were required to enter the number, and write down our opinions 

 against it; and at the conclusion of this examination, a number was called and we read off our 

 remai'ks in succession — no one being excused — and then Dr. Kirtland announced the name of the 

 Cherry, and gave its history ; and though (as we knew) there were some half dozen sorts of the 

 best old Cherries artfully arranged, so as to escape detection if possible, yet, in nearly every 

 instance, the Kirtland Seedlings were the ones selected as "best!" And what must have pleased 

 the old Doctor better than this unbiased testimony in favor of his Cherries, we all selected as the 

 best those sorts which are most esteemed by himself and F. R. Elliott. 



In my blind notes, Alammoth and Delicate are set down as the very best ; but the majority 

 rated about as follows: Of the reds— G•'ol^ Wood, Delicate, Kirtland^sMary, and Rockjm-t Birjar- 

 reau; Belle d'Choisy being ranked as "best" in one instance only. Of the blacks — Black Hawk 

 and Osceola were entirely ahead of any of the old blacks. The Doctor, and Logan, and also 

 Jockosott, are down on my list : the "Doctor" is a very sweet Cherry, and all the blacks are, in 

 some way, superior ; but, unfortunately, very few of them were ripe ; and so of some of the 

 And, by the way, there are some forty varieties in all, not one of which but is more worthy 

 ivation than a large portion of the old world varieties. 



