THE CHERRY 145 



The first and perhaps the most important de- 

 fect that suggests itself is that the newly devel- 

 oped cherries, particularly the sweet ones, lack 

 something of hardiness. They grow to perfection 

 in California, but as yet they are little grown in 

 the eastern United States, and not at all in re- 

 gions north of Ohio and Missouri. Yet the race 

 of cherries, taken as a whole, constitutes a very 

 hardy stock. The wild cherries of the eastern 

 United States grow far to the north and are able 

 to withstand the winters even in regions where 

 the mercury sometimes freezes. 



It should be possible, and doubtless it will 

 prove possible, to combine the best existing vari- 

 eties of cherry with some of the wild cherries, and 

 thus to develop a race of cherries that will retain 

 the present qualities and introduce additional 

 qualities of hardiness fitting them for growth 

 anywhere in the United States; in fact this is a 

 work in which I am now engaged. 



There is a small red cherry, commonly called 

 the bird cherry (Prunus pennsylvardcd) , the 

 fruit of which is sour and astringent, but which 

 is not without qualities of virility and hardi- 

 ness that might make it a valuable hybridizing 

 agent. 



This is perhaps the hardiest of all cherries. I 

 have seen it growing wild nearly as far north as 



