CHAP. XLII. ROSA‘CEH. CE’RASUS. 699 
persons are allowed to partake of the cherries, on condition of not injuring the 
trees ; but the main crop of the cherries, when ripe, is gathered by the respective 
proprietors of the land on which it grows: and, when these are anxious to 
preserve the fruit of any particular tree, it is, as it were, tabooed; that is, a 
wisp. of straw is tied in a conspicuous part to one of the branches, as vines 
by the road sides in France, when the grapes are ripe, are protected by 
sprinkling a plant here and there with a mixture of lime and water, which 
marks. the leaves with conspicuous white blotches. Every one who has 
travelled on the Continent, in the fruit season, must have observed the respect 
that is paid to these appropriating marks; and there is something highly 
gratifying in this, and in the humane feeling displayed by the princes of the 
different countries, in causing the trees to be planted. It would indeed be 
lamentable, if kind treatment did not produce a corresponding return. 
The double-flowered varieties are splendid garden ornaments; more parti- 
cularly the double French, which appears to grow to a timber size, and pro- 
duces blossoms almost as large as roses. The pendulous shoots and blossoms 
of the common double cherry are also eminently beautiful; and no lawn ought 
to be without a tree of each sort. They are admirable trees for grouping with 
the almond, the double-blossomed peach, the Chinese and other crab trees, 
and the scarlet hawthorn. 
The pendulous-branched Cherries (of which there is one variety, Allcard’s 
morello, that attains a considerable size, and bears excellent fruit, which, 
from its agreeable acidity, makes a most delicious jam), exclusive of C. sem- 
perflorens and C. Chamzcérasus, which are pendulous when grafted standard 
high, are most ornamental trees, planted singly. 
Poetical and legendary Allusions. The cherry has always been a favourite 
tree with poets ; the brilliant red of the fruit, the whiteness and profusion of 
the blossoms, and the vigorous growth of the tree, affording abundant similes : 
but the instances where they occur are too numerous, and too well known, 
to be suitable for quotation. In Cambridgeshire, at Ely, when the cherries 
are ripe, numbers of people repair, on what they call Cherry Sunday, to the 
cherry orchards in the neighbourhood ; where, on the payment of 6d. each, 
they are allowed to eat as many cherries as they choose. A similar féte is 
held at Montmorency. _A festival is also celebrated annually at Hamburg, 
called the Feast of the Cherries, during which troops of children parade 
the street with green boughs, ornamented with cherries. The original of 
this féte is said to be as follows:— In 1432, when the city of Hamburg 
was besieged by the Hussites, one of the citizens named Wolf proposed 
that all the children in the city, between seven and fourteen years of age, 
should be clad in mourning, and sent as suppliants to the enemy. Pro- 
copius Nasus, chief of the Hussites, was so much moved by this spectacle, 
that he not only promised to spare the city, but regaled the young suppliants 
with cherries and other fruits ; and the children returned crowned with leaves, 
shouting “ Victory !’’, and holding boughs laden with cherries in their hands. 
Soil and Situation. The cherry will grow in any soil not too wet, or not 
entirely a strong clay. It will thrive better than most others in dry, calca- 
reous, and sandy soils; attaining, even on chalk, with a thin layer of soil 
over it, a very large size. In the District of Marne, in France, the road-side 
trees are generally cherries; many of which have trunks from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in 
diameter at a foot from the ground. Du Hamel found cherry trees succeed 
on poor sandy soils, where other trees had altogether failed. Dr. Walker 
mentions that the cherry tree always decays whenever its roots extend to 
water. The cherry tree will grow on mountains and other elevations, as may 
readily be supposed from its flourishing in high northern latitudes; but it does 
not attain a timber-like size, except in plains, or on low hills. It stands 
less in need of shelter than any other fruit-bearing tree whatever, and may 
often be employed on the margins of orchards, and for surrounding kitchen- 
gardens, to form a screen against high winds. Dr. Withering observes that 
