THE 



Canadian Horticulturist. 



Vol. XXII. 



1899 



No. 8 



KENTISH CHERRIES. 



HE classification of cherries 

 is very unsettled, and unsat- 

 isfactory, being founded too 

 much upon form and color. 

 The common American 

 grouping is into I, Hearts and 

 Bigarreaus, fruit heart shaped, 

 and II, Dukes and Morellos, fruit round, 

 and III, Native Dwarf. But surely the 

 Hearts and the Bigarreaus are sufficiently 

 distinct for separate grouping, if only by 

 reason of the difference in texture of the 

 flesh, as for example the Tartarian 

 (Heart) and Yellowish Spanish (Bigar- 

 reau). Again why class together the 

 Dukes and the Morellos which are so 

 totally distinct both in habit of trees 

 and in fruit, as for example compare the 

 May Duke, with its upright habit and 

 fastigiate foliage, and very mildly acid 

 fruit, with the English Morello, the fruit 

 of which stains and is totally distinct in 

 habit of tree and in flavor of fruit. 



Then why should the Morello and the 

 Kentish varieties be put together, when 

 the fruit is so distinct in color, flavor 



295 



and texture. The former is well repre- 

 sented by the English Morello, and the 

 latter by the Early Richmond and the 

 Montmorency. It is of these two varie- 

 ties we desire to speak more particularly 

 at this time. 



The Early Richmond is an Ameri- 

 can name taken no doubt from Rich- 

 mond, Virginia, where it has been plant- 

 ed in early years, just as the Old English 

 Williams Pear took on the name Bartlett, 

 at Boston, from the first introducer. It 

 is also called the Virginian May, 

 although with us it does not color before 

 the middle of June. It was not easy for 

 a time to trace this variety to its identity 

 in England and France, but from all we 

 can learn it is the Kentish Pie cherry of 

 England and the Native (Early cherry) 

 of France (Le Roy) The cherry appears 

 to be of French origin, and George 

 Lindley supposed that it had been 

 brought into England from Flanders in 

 the reign of Henry VIII. 



The tree, like all the Kentish and 

 Morello, is a slow grower and slender 



