Other Kinds of Plums 93 



Primus virginiana, has some medicinal value; but it 

 has also some culinary value. When the fruits are 

 perfectly ripe they are not bad to eat out of hand. The 

 slight bitterness which they still retain is rather agree- 

 able than otherwise. Good jelly can be made from the 

 fruit if taken before it is too ripe; and first-class cor- 

 dials and liqueurs may be distilled from it by the man 

 who knows how. The choke cherry has been culti- 

 vated more or less at different times ; and though it has 

 never been recommended as a profitable garden crop, 

 the persons who have grown the occasional trees have 

 doubtless reaped some satisfaction for their labors. 

 Some special variations have been noted among these 

 cultivated choke cherries, — for instance, a white-fruit- 

 ed variety, — but none of these has been named. 



The Black Cherry. — I once heard a man recom- 

 mend the black cherry for ague. His directions were 

 these: "You should put five of the cherries in a five- 

 gallon demijohn of good whisky, and drink some 

 every half-hour till you feel better." "But it seems to 

 me," I said, "that five cherries is rather a small pro- 

 portion." "Not at all," he replied; "they are the most 

 important part of the prescription. As soon as you 

 put them in the demijohn they will sink to the bottom; 

 and then the idea is to get to the cherries just as soon 

 as possible!" 



Mr. Sudworth records that this species is some- 

 times called the whisky cherry. I have never heard, 

 however, of its being cultivated for the purpose 

 mentioned. 



It is a noble forest tree in some parts of the United 

 States, and produces perhaps the most valuable wood 

 of any native species ; but as a fruit tree it is so inferior 

 that I fear it will never gain a place in the orchard. 



