THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 1 45 



rather general favorite in home orchards though it falls short of several 

 others of its near of kin in flavor and flesh-characters. It can never take 

 a high place among commercial kinds because the cherries are too soft to 

 handle well, show bruises plainly, are somewhat susceptible to brown-rot 

 and come when better cherries are plentiful. The trees are vigorous, 

 hardy and bear full crops regularly and in various environments. The 

 variety is readily told by the upright habit of growth and by the large 

 lenticels on trunk and branches. Ida has been very well tried as a com- 

 mercial variety in this State but in the ups and downs of the industry has 

 not held its own with other sorts and can be recommended only for home 

 plantations. 



E. H. Cocklin of Shepherdstown, Pennsylvania, grew this variety as 

 a seedling of Cocklin's Favorite, another of his cherries. The cherry was 

 named after his daughter, Ida. It seems to have proved worthy of general 

 culture, as it is now listed by many nurserymen. The American Pomo- 

 logical Society placed Ida on its fruit list in 1909. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright, open-topped, somewhat vasiform, very productive; 

 trunk stout; branches very stocky, smooth, light ash-gray over brown, with large, much- 

 raised lenticels; branchlets very stout, short, brown partly covered with ash-gray, roughish, 

 with a few raised lenticels. 



Leaves five and one-half inches long, two and one-half inches wide, folded upward, 

 elliptical to obovate, thin; upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light green. 

 pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base acute; margin doubly 

 crenate, with small, black glands; petiole two and one-fourth inches long, thick, tinged 

 with red, somewhat hairy along the grooved upper surface, usually with two large, 

 reniform, reddish glands on the stalk. 



Buds large, long, pointed, plimip, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and in dense 

 clusters on numerous short spurs, also with many small, round, lateral leaf-buds on the 

 secondary growth; leaf -scars not prominent; blooming in mid-season; flowers white, one 

 and one-fourth inches across; borne in clusters usually in twos; pedicels three-fourths 

 of an inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, whitish within, campanulate, 

 glabrous; calyx-lobes with a tinge of red, acute, reflexed; petals roundish, entire, dentate 

 at the apex, nearly sessile; filaments nearly one-half inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter 

 than the stamens. 



Fruit matures early; three-fourths of an inch in diameter, cordate, slightly compressed; 

 cavity deep, flaring, regular; suture a distinct line; apex variable in shape; color amber 

 overspread with light red, mottled; dots numerous, rather large, yellowish, somewhat 

 conspicuous; stem one and one-half inches long; skin thin, separating readily from the 

 pulp; flesh whitish, with colorless juice, tender and melting, mild, sweet; of good quality; 

 stone free or semi-free, roundish, slightly flattened, blunt, with smooth surfaces; with 

 distinct ridges along the ventral suture. 



