CHERRIES. 121 



Black Eagle, the Black Heart, Bowyer's Early Heart, Car- 

 nation, Downton, Florence, and the White Heart. 



What are called geans or guignes are cherries less 

 removed from their natural state. The trees are generally 

 treated as standards, and bear abundantly, particularly 

 when old. The principal sorts are the Amber gean, a 

 plentiful bearer, with sweet tender fruit; and the Lundie 

 gean, bearing a small black cherry of high flavor. This 

 variety originated at the ancient seat of the Erskines in 

 Forfarshire, but is sometimes called the Polton gean, from 

 a place near Lasswade, in Mid-Lothian. 



It may be noticed that, in the Jardin des Plantes, at 

 Paris, the black-fruited cherry-tree, or Guignicr, is con- 

 sidered as a variety of Prunus Cerasus. The forest cherry- 

 tree, P. avium, is named Merisie?-; and, besides varieties 

 with red and with black fruit, there is a marked variety 

 called Bigarotier. 



The stock preferred for cherries is the wild gean. Mr. 

 Liudley recommend that dwarf cherry trees should be 

 grafted, and two or three year old stocks will do for them. 

 For standard trees the stocks should be at least four years 

 old, and they should be budded or grafted five or six feet 

 from the ground. High stemmed cherry trees, or riders, 

 are often temporarily employed to fill up the vacant spaces 

 on newly-planted south walls till the dwarf trees make 

 sufficient progress ; for these, stocks six or seven feet high 

 are required. For dwarf cherry trees, the best stocks are 

 procured from the Prunus (or Cerasus) Mahaleb, the sweet- 

 scented cherry. 



Cherries are generally produced on small spurs which 

 appear on the wood of the second year, and these spurs 

 continue productive for an indefinite period. Any form of 

 training may therefore be adopted ; but, as the fruit is 



6 



