WESTERN SAND CHERRY 239 



cherry seed from Utah Territory." He raised plants 

 from these seeds, and noticed that the plants were dif- 

 ferent from those which he had found upon Hat 

 Island. "I do not consider this cherry of any par- 

 ticular value as it is found in its normal condition," 

 he continues ; " but if we could obtain an improved 

 variety of a similar growth, and as hardy and pro- 

 ductive, it would certainly be a great acquisition. 

 There is no reason why this should not be accom- 

 plished, for, as I have said, it is nearly related to our 

 cultivated varieties, and a hybrid can, and probably 

 will be, produced between them." Now, after the 

 lapse of a quarter of a century, the fulfillment of this 

 generous prophecy is in sight. 



In 1888, Gipson, in "Horticulture by Irrigation," 

 speaks of the wild native Colorado dwarf cherry as 

 bearing a fruit "especially valuable for pies and pre- 

 serves, and is often pleasant to eat from the hand. 

 It is wonderfully productive, and will survive all 

 changes and vicissitudes of the most exacting cli- 

 mate." In 1889, Professor C. E. Bessey called the 

 attention of the American Pomological Society to it 

 as "a promising new fruit from the plains" of Ne- 

 braska. It is only within the. last five or six years, 

 however, that the sand cherries have come into actual 

 cultivation for their fruit, although as ornamental 

 plants they have been sold many years. Professor C. 

 A. Keffer described a dwarf cherry in 1891, in a bul- 

 letin of the South Dakota Experiment Station, and a 

 little later Professor Green, of Minnesota, did the same. 

 Both men had grown it, and found it to be variable 

 and promising. In South Dakota plants set three 

 years bore heavily the second and third years. The 



