THE HOVEY CHERRY. 



HOVEY. 



The cherry, though one of the finest of the smaller fruits, has 

 received but little attention, in comparison with the pear, the apple, 

 and the peach, or, indeed, with the strawberry or gooseberry. Till 

 within a few years, the list of really fine varieties has been confined to 

 about a dozen sorts, and few of these have been much improvement 

 over some of the oldest in cultivation : the Black Tartarian still main- 

 tains its place as one of the best, though introduced upwards of half a 

 century ago. The late Mr. Knight, forty years since, perceived the 

 want of this improvement, and not only recommended the growth of 

 new sorts, but attempted the production of seedhngs, by the sure system 

 of hybridization. His success was much greater than with the. pear ; 

 for the Elton, Downton, Black Eagle, and Waterloo, which were the 

 result of his experiments, have ever since been considered among the 

 best in cultivation. 



Within fifteen or twenty years, our American cultivators, aware of this 

 dearth of superior cherries, have come into the field, and, it would ap- 

 pear, with great success. Already our catalogues are swelling up with 

 the names of new seedlings. The Downer, Sweet Montmorency, Spar- 

 hawk's Honey, and Coe's Transparent, are well known ; and the more 

 recent seedlings, of Prof. Kirtland, of Ohio, bid fair to eclipse any which 

 have yet been raised. If so much has been already accomplished, may 

 we not hope for far greater improvement from continued and well- 

 directed efforts ? It is well known that, excepting Mr, Knight's cherries, 

 most of the others have been chance seedhngs, or trees raised by selec- 

 tions from the choicest kinds ; and we do not doubt, if careful fertiliza- 

 tion was effected, still greater results would be produced. 



The new variety which we now figure will prove a fine addition to our 

 stock of late cherries. It is larger than the Black Tartarian, and comes 

 in among the latest of the sweet cherries we possess, ripening about the 

 same time of the Sweet Montmorency. Its beauty is unequalled, and 

 its excellence surpassed by none. 



This variety was selected from a bed of seedlings in 1839. Upwards 

 of a dozen trees, which gave promise of excellence from the remarkable 

 size of their foliage, were set out for fruiting ; all but two, however, out 

 of the lot, proved to be inferior to the kinds we already possess, It 



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