CHEEKY BIPE. 69 



a supply of timber. This inconsiderate measure was a 

 great calamity for the poor, for soup made of cherries 

 with a little butter and bread was their chief sustenance 

 during a great part of the year, the fruit being not only 

 put to this use while fresh, but also dried in great quan- 

 tities by exposing it on boards in the sun, or in ovens, 

 and an inexpensive provision thus secured for the winter, 

 the wood-cutters and charcoal-burners contenting them- 

 selves with little else beyond this frugal fare. In Ger- 

 many also kirschen-suppe, consisting simply of cherries 

 stewed with sugar and water, and slightly thickened with 

 potato flour, is a frequent dish at most tables, either as a 

 soup to open or a sweet to close the repast. Crushed 

 and fermented, these wild cherries can also be made into 

 a wine of agreeable flavour, but so weak that it can hardly 

 be kept, even when bottled, until the next season, and 

 has therefore never become an article of commerce, but 

 is chiefly distilled to make Kirschwasser, some of the 

 stones being previously broken, in order that the kernels 

 may also contribute their flavour. It takes 20 pints of 

 fermented pulp to produce a single pint of this liqueur, 

 which is clear as water, being valued according as it is 

 free from any tinge. Even in France it is always sold 

 dearer than the best brandy, though, as the fruit from 

 which it is made costs nothing for cultivation, Bosc ob- 

 serves that it ought to be far cheaper, and would be so, 

 since it can be made wherever wild cherries grow, were 

 it not for the ignorance and inertness of the peasantry, 

 yet further exemplified in the fact, that in 1821 there 

 were still " many cantons " in France where the cherry 

 was absolutely " not known." The manufacture of KirscJi- 

 wasser is chiefly carried on in some parts of Germany 

 and Switzerland. In Italy, the yet more precious cordial 

 Maraschino is distilled from the leaves and kernels of a 

 small Gean pounded in a mortar, mixed with honey, and 

 slightly fermented. Eresh cherries distilled, and even 

 dried ones boiled, afford also, it is said, a liquor found very 

 beneficial in whooping or ordinary coughs ; and Evelyn 

 says of our own wild black cherry, that " with new wine 

 and honey they make a conditum of admirable effect to 



