CHERRIES. 



cherry is said to have been sent to Koine from Cerasus in Pont us (Armenia) by 

 Lucullus, when engaged in the war against Mithridates, B.C. 7466. Pliny says 

 the cherry was introduced into Britain A.D. 46. Lydgate's London Lack-penny poem 

 mentions "cherries in the ryse," or in twigs, hawked about the streets of London in 

 1415. Cultivated sorts, however, are alleged to have been first introduced into this 

 country about the time of Henry VIII. by Harris, from Italy, Flanders, and other 

 countries, and originally planted at Sittingbourne, in Kent. Nevertheless, cherries 

 were probably cultivated at a much earlier period. They are enumerated in a list of 

 fruits of Henry VII., and Dr. Bulleyer, who was born early in the reign of Henry 

 VIII., says we had excellent cherries (among other fruits) before they were introduced 

 from Holland and France; and Parkinson, who wrote in 1629, mentions thirty-six 

 varieties as then in cultivation. Passing to the present day, we find upwards of one 

 hundred and twenty varieties described in the last edition of the Fruit Manual. A 

 large collection is grown in the royal gardens, Frogmore, for the cherry is the favourite 

 fruit of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and a supply of ripe fruits is maintained for the 

 royal table from the beginning of April till the close of summer. 



"The fruit of the cherry is held in high estimation wherever it is cultivated, either 

 to be eaten raw, or to be cooked in pies or puddings ; sometimes cherries are steeped in 

 brandy and called brandy cherries. The juice of the fruit is mixed with brandy, and 

 railed cherry brandy. The celebrated Kirschwasser of Germany is a liqueur distilled 

 from the fruit of the cherry, and is thus made : When the cherries have arrived at 

 maturity, they are gathered, and the stalks separated from them. They are then 

 pounded in a wooden vessel, without breaking the stones, and left till they ferment. 

 When fermentation has begun, the liquor is stirred two or three times a day, and as 

 soon as the fermentation has ceased, it is put into close barrels to prevent the acetous 

 fermentation. The kernels are then broken and thrown into the liquor, and the whole 

 is distilled together. Maraschino is an Italian liqueur, made at Zara, in Dalmatia, 

 from a small black geai), which is fermented with honey, afterwards with the leaves 

 VOL. n, 4 



