USEFUL VABIETIES OF CHEEEIES. 139 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



USEFUL VARIETIES OF CHERRIES. 



THE garden may be so planted with cherries as to keep 

 up a supply from the beginning of June to October. 



The Early May, Small Early May, Indulle, Nain 

 Precoce, or Cerisier Noir a Fruit Eond Precoce, is, I 

 believe, the earliest cherry we have. It is small, round, 

 pale red in colour, a little flattened at the stalk and 

 crown, and tender and juicy, but not high-flavoured. 

 The stalk is thin, not long, and deeply set. It ripens 

 early in June, before any of the Dukes. The tree has 

 a slender wiry growth, and small glossy leaves, It 

 has no particular merit besides coming so early, and 

 it is too tender to do very well as a standard, but 

 produces well on a south or south-east wall. 



Werder's Early Black Heart is a better cherry, and 

 almost as early. The fruit is large, heart-shaped, with 

 a deep suture on one side, dark purple, and very juicy, 

 sweet, and rich. The stalk is stout and short, the flesh 

 and juice are dark, and the skin is tough. 



Tartarian Black, Churchill's Heart, Sheppard's Seed- 

 ling, Eraser's Black, Circassian, Ronald's Black Heart, 

 Black Russian, or Superb Circassian, is good in quality, 

 handsome, and ripens the end of June or in July. It 

 is heart-shaped, as some of its numerous names imply, 

 uneven in surface, of a rich deep purple in colour, 

 rich-flavoured, and juicy. The stone is small and rathei % 

 long-shaped, and the stalk is slender and of medium 

 length. The young shoots have an upward growth, 

 with white epidermis, short joints, and plump leaf-buds. 

 It produces the fruit singly, and bears well as a standard. 

 On an east or west wall the fruit is splendid and very 

 abundant. It well deserves a place in the garden. It 



