450 THE CHERRY. 



meter of main trunk, wliile the length of the largest limb or branch ia 

 foi'tj'-two feet. 



A large cherry-tree at Walworth, N. Y., is recorded as measuring 

 fourteen feet six inches in circumference, sixty feet in heiglit, and having 

 a spread of over four rods. It has produced forty bushels of fruit in 

 one season. 



Twenty feet apart for the strong, and eighteen feet for the slow- 

 gi'owing kinds is the proper distance for this tree. 



Training the Cherry is very little practised in the United States. 

 The Heart and Bigarreaxi Cherries are usually t)-ained in the horizontal 

 manner, explained in pages 44, 45. Wlien the wall or espalier is once 

 tilled, as there directed, with latei'al branches, it is only necessary to cut 

 off, twice every season — in the month of May and July — all additional 

 shoots to within an inch or so of the branch from which they grew. As 

 the trees grow older, these fruit-spurs will advance in length, but by cut- 

 ting them out whenever they exceed four or five inches, new ones will be 

 produced, and the tree will continue to keep its proper shape and yield 

 excellent fruit. " The Morello Cherries, being weaker gro\\T.ng sorts, are 

 trained in the fan manner {2x1 ges 42, 4-3). 



Gathering the Fruit. This tender and juicy fruit is best when 

 freshly gathered from the tree, and it should always be picked with the 

 stalks attached. For the dessert, the flavor of many sorts in our climate 

 is rendered more delicious by placing the fruit, for an hour or two pre- 

 vious, in an ice-house or refrigex-ator, and bringing them upon the table 

 cool, with dew-drops standing upon them. For market or transpor- 

 tation long distances, they should be gathered only when perfectly dry. 



Varieties. Since the fii-st publication of this work was written, the 

 niimber of varieties has greatly increased, and become so hybridized that 

 no distinct line can now be drawn separating many of the Heart Cher- 

 ries (tender and half tender) from the lirm-fleshed or Bigarreau varieties, 

 each class insensibly approaching and inte3-mingling with the other. We 

 have therefore made but one class of these, whose main characteristic is 

 the large, vigorous growth of the trees. The Duke and Morello Chei-ries, 

 also wanting a natural division, we make to constitute another class, and 

 in these two have comprised all the cherries, 



CLASS I. 



BIGAREEAU AND HEAET CHERRIES. 



Adam's Crown. 



Of English origin. 



Fruit medium, round heart-shape, pale red. Flesh tender, juicy, 

 agreeable. Middle, of June. 



Amber. 

 Imperial English Amber ? 



A variety described by Coxe as large, round. Skin glossy cream 

 color, faint blush. Flesh firm, luscious. Ripens late in June. Tree 

 grows large, regular, spreading. 



