246 



name has been obtained through the fruit being largely consumed by 

 birds. The fruit of this species is black, small, and austere, but 

 though unpleasant to the taste it is used to some extent for flavouring 

 whisky and other spirits. Cerasus Mahaleb is the Perfumed Cherry, 

 a, species indigenous to Austria and Hungary, and largely used as a 

 dwarfing stock for the common varieties. The wood is highly 

 perfumed, hence the common name, and much valued for cabinet 

 work. The fruit is small, black, asd shining, and so hard before it is 

 fully ripe that it is often pierced and used as a substitute for beads. 

 Cerasus emarginata is a very robust American species, that attains a 

 height of twenty to twenty-five feet. It bears abundantly small 

 roundish fruit that has a very bitter and astringent flavour. Possibly 

 this species if fairly tried, would be found to be a useful stock for 

 ordinary Cherries. Cerasus ilicifolia is the Evergreen or Holly-leaved 

 Cherry of California. It is a handsome small tree, with bright 

 shining dark-green foliage, and is worthy of attention for ornamental 

 purposes. The fruit is black or red, about half-an-inch in diameter, 

 having a pleasant sub-acid flavour, but somewhat astringent, and the 

 kernel has a rich almond flavour. Cerasus serotina the Black Cherry 

 of North East America is a hardy species found mostly oil poor land 

 near the sea coast. It has pleasant vinous flavoured, but slightly 

 bitter fruit. Cerasus tomentosa a Chinese species yields an edible fruit 

 of fair quality. Both the English and the Portugal Laurels, though 

 differing materially in appearance and in other ways from our edible 

 Cherries, belong to the same family, the former being known as 

 Cerasus lauro-cerasus and the latter as Cerasus lusitanica. Several 

 species and varieties of the Cherry family in addition to those already 

 mentioned are used solely for ornamental purposes. The more 

 prominent of these are the Large Double-flowering Cherry, a strong- 

 growing variety of Cerasus avium, which blooms profusely early in 

 the spring and produces large pure-white flowers an inch and a-half 

 in diameter. The Dwarf Double-flowering Cherry is a variety of 

 Cerasus vulgaris, very dwarf and compact in habit, with flowers 

 somewhat similar to the last mentioned kind but not quite so large. 

 The Weeping Cherry is a fruit-bearing variety of Cerasus vulgaris, 

 with slender weeping branches and myrtle-like foliage. The 

 Chinese Double-flowering Cherry is Cerasus serrulata This species 

 is rather dwarf in habit, and produces in abundance white flowers 

 slightly tinged with pink. 



USES. 



The Cherry is a popular and excellent early summer dessert fruit, 

 and is also largely used for culinary and other purposes. As table 

 fruit the Heart and the Bigarreau sections possess the best qualities, 

 and are most generally cultivated. The Duke and Morello sections 

 are the best for culinary purposes and some other requirements. 

 Large quantities of Cherries are now preserved by canning, the 

 varieties best adapted for this purpose being those that are somewhat 

 tough in fibre and rather tart in flavour. The fleshy sorts make an 



