230 THE EVOLUTION OP OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



So far as I have learned the history of this fruit from 

 inquiries made in northern Pennsylvania where I have known 

 it, the original trees were brought to that region from Connecti- 

 cut by one of the older settlers. The trees sprout from the 

 roots to some extent, and these sprouts have served as a means 

 of distribution in this farming community, so that it is not at 

 all an uncommon fruit in that immediate vicinity. As to its 

 remoter history I know nothing. Probably it is merely an 

 improved form originally selected from some hedgerow. The 

 variation in size of fruit which these wild groups present cer- 

 tainly lends color to such a supposition. 



Craig comments on this article as follows:* 



I was very much interested in the letter of Professor Card, 

 which appeared in your issue of February 3d, on "The Choke 

 Cherry in Cultivation." I send you this note to corroborate the ' 

 statement of Professor Card, and to say that in the clay flats of 

 the Province of Quebec, bordering the Richelieu and St. 

 Lawrence rivers, the choke cherry is one of the principal 

 fruits cultivated by the French habitant. This is owing largely 

 to the character of the soil, which is of the pronounced blue- 

 clay stamp and of the stickiest and most impervious type. In 

 this region the choke cherry may be found in almost every 

 French garden. It is cultivated mostly in tree form, and mul- 

 tiplied by means of the suckers which spring up about the roots. 

 A great many variations occur. Fruit large and small, light and 

 dark, astringent and non- astringent, may be found. Two years 

 ago I found a tree bearing large clusters of yellowish white 

 cherries. I have sown the seed of these, and am watching the 

 young seedlings with interest, hoping that improved forms may 

 appear. The French use this fruit in many ways, but it is most 

 largely partaken of uncooked, next as preserves, while a smaller 

 proportion is made into jelly. The tree is hardier than the wild 

 black cherry, Prunus serotina, and is found all through the 

 northwest territories, even upon elevated portions of the foot- 

 hills of the eastern Rockies. 



'Garden and Forest, x. 68. 



