280 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



from not being so greedilj' eaten by the birds as most other sorts, 

 hanging on the trees a long time. 

 D'Ostheim is a dwarf weeping tree, a great bearer. 

 ^ C V. Q Marascha, Priinus Mardscha Jacq., is the variety from the fruit 

 of which the liqueur called Maraschino is made. Plants of it have 

 been raised in the Hort. Soc. Garden in 1837. 



The flowers are smaller than those of C. sylvestris. The fruit is round, 

 melting, full of a watery sap, more or less flavoured, and almost alwaj's sen- 

 sibly acid. The skin of the fruit is commonly red, but, in the numerous va- 

 rieties in cultivation, passing into all the shades between that colour and dark 

 purple or black. The skin oi all the varieties of C. vulgaris separates easily 

 from the flesh, and the flesh parts readily from the stone; while, in all the 

 varieties of C. sylvestris, the skin is more or less adhering to the flesh, and the 

 flesh to the stone. {N. DuHam., v. p. 18.) This species forms a tree of 

 less magnitude than that of C. sylvestris : it is never found in a truly wild 

 state in Europe, and the aboriginal form is unknown. 



Remarks referring to both Species. The cherry trees in cultivation, whether 

 in woods or gardens, may, in point of general appearance, be included in three 

 forms : large trees with stout branches, and shoots proceeding from the main 

 stem horizontally, or slightly inclining upwards, and when young and without 

 their leaves, bearing a distant resemblance to gigantic candelabra, such as the 

 geans, and many of the heart cherries ; fastigiate trees of a smaller size, such 

 as the dukes; and small trees with weak wood, and branches divergent and 

 drooping, such as the Kentish or Flemish cherries, and the morellos. The 

 leaves vary so much in the cultivated varieties, that it is impossible to charac- 

 terise the sorts by them ; but, in general, those of the large trees are largest, 

 and the lightest in colour, and those of the slender-branched trees the smallest, 

 and the darkest in colour ; the flowers are also largest on the large trees. The 

 distinction of two species, or races, is of very little use, with reference to 

 cherries as fruit-bearing plants ; but, as the wild sort, C. sylvestris, is very 

 distinct, when found in its native habitats, from the cherry cultivated in gar- 

 dens, it seems worth while to keep them apart, with a view to arboriculture 

 and ornamental planting. For this reason, also, we have kept Cerasus sem- 

 perflorens, C. Pseudo-Cerasus, C, serrulata, and C. Chamaecerasus apart, 

 though we are convinced that they are nothing more than varieties. In 

 consequence of its rapid growth, the red-fruited variety ought to be pre- 

 ferred where the oiiject is timber, or where stocks are to be grown for 

 fruit trees of large size. As a coppice-wood tree, the stools push freely and 

 apidly ; and, as a timber tree, it will attain its full size, in ordinary situations, 

 in 30 years. Its rate of growth, in the first 10 years, will average, in ordinary 

 circumstances, 18 in. a year. There are various trees in the neighbourhood 

 of London upwards of 60 ft. high ; one on the Cotswold Hills, on the estate 

 of the Earl of Harrowby, is 85 ft. high. The wood of the wild cherry (C. 

 sylvestris) is firm, stroni;, close-grained, and of a reddish colour. It weighs, 

 when green, 6 lib. 13 oz. per cubic foot; and when dry, 541b. 15oz. ; and it 

 loses in the process of drying about a 16th part of its bulk. The wood is 

 soft and easily worked, and it takes a fine polish. It is much sought after by 

 cabinetmakers, turners, and musical instrument makers, more particularly in 

 France, where mahogany is much less common than in Britain. The fruit 

 of the cherry is a favourite with almost every body, and especially with 

 children. The distillers of liqueurs make great use of ripe cherries : the 

 spirit known as kirschewasser is distilled from them after fermentation ; and 

 both a wine and a vinegar are made by bruising the fruit and the kernels, and 

 allowing the mass to undergo the vinous fermentation. The ratafia of Grenoble 

 is a celebrated liqueur, which is made from a large black gean ; from which, also, 

 the best kirschewasser is made ; and the maraschino from a variety of the tree 

 ibund in Dalmatia. The preparation of these will be found in our first edition. 



