CHOKE CHERRIES 231 



A periodical has the following sketch of improved 

 choke cherries from H. Knudson, an experimenter in 

 Minnesota : "I have three improved varieties of choke 

 cherry, which I have numbered 1, 2, 3. They all 

 differ from the common type of choke cherry, both in 

 leaf and bud, and especially in fruit. No. 3 is the 

 greatest departure from the original type, and when 

 its leaves are fully developed, is readily distinguished 

 from any other sort by its leaves alone. Nos. 1 and 

 2 are of slender, upright growth, and attain a height 

 of twenty to twenty-five feet. No. 3 is of a rather 

 more spreading habit. 



"They are all thrifty growers, so far free from dis- 

 ease, and good annual bearers, producing the best 

 fruit of its class I have ever tasted, having very little 

 of the astringency common to the race. 



"There certainly appears to be an inclination in 

 this fruit to break away from the original type, and 

 inasmuch as they possess in a high degree those quali- 

 ties that are found lacking in our cultivated varieties, 

 imported from Europe; viz., health and hardiness, 

 may it not be best for us to turn some of our efforts 

 toward developing the native cherry, as well as the 

 native plum?" 



Upon the plains and westward, Prunus Virginiana 

 is represented by Prunus demissa, which has thicker 

 leaves with less pronounced teeth, and mostly longer 

 racemes of better fruit. Wickson says that in Cali- 

 fornia "the wild fruit is used to some extent for mar- 

 malade. It has been cultivated to some extent in 

 places near its habitat." It has also been used for 

 stocks for garden cherries. This western cherry was 

 introduced into the plant trade in 1881 by Edward 



