SCHMIDT 



SKLANKA 



153 



and are more oblate. The trees are markedly 

 upright and the foliage is dense. The va- 

 riety has a place in home orchards and for 

 local markets. The origin of this variety is 

 unknown, but it dates back at least a century 

 and a half in Europe. According to Downing, 

 it was brought to America in the first half of 

 the nineteenth century. 



Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright, vasiform, un- 

 productive. Leaves numerous, 4% inches long, 2 inches 

 wide, obovate ; margin serrate or crenate ; petiole 1% 

 inches long, glandless or with 1 or 2 small, reniform, 

 greenish -yellow or reddish glands. Flowers midseason ; 

 white, 1 inch across ; borne in very dense clusters, 

 closely grouped in fours and fives. Fruit early ; % inch 

 in diameter, oblate, compressed ; color bright red be- 

 coming darker at maturity ; dots few, small, obscure ; 

 stem \y% inches long, adhering to the fruit; skin thin, 

 tough, separating from the pulp ; flesh pale yellowish- 

 white with tinge of red, pink juice, tender, sprightly, 

 pleasantly acid ; good to very good in quality ; stone 

 semi-free, small, ovate, slightly flattened, with smooth 

 surfaces. 



SCHMIDT. Fig. 140. P. avium. Schmidt's 

 Bigarreau. Schmidt is not new nor little 

 known, since it has been rather widely planted 

 in America for many years. Yet it is not re- 

 ceiving the atten- 

 tion that it de- 

 serves from com- 

 mercial cherry- 

 growers, being 

 relegated to the 

 rear of a dozen 

 kinds when it 

 should be in the 

 front rank. The 

 characters which 

 entitle it to a 

 high place as a 

 money-maker are: 

 the fruits are large, 

 being unsurpassed 

 in size by any 

 other black cherry ; 

 they are round and 

 plump in form and 

 glossy black in 

 color; the flesh is 

 dark ruby-red un- 

 der the skin, which 

 makes the cherry 

 as pleasing in- 

 wardly as out- 

 wardly ; and the 

 cherries are free 

 from brown-rot, in 

 this respect excel- 

 ling any other market sort. The trees are 

 vigorous, healthy, productive, and charac- 

 terized by abundant, large leaves of dark 

 luxuriant green. The fruit is often picked 

 before it is ripe, at which time it is dark red 

 and not black. Schmidt originated with Herr 

 Schmidt, Casekow, Prussia, about 1841. It 

 eventually found its way to America, but when 

 and how is not known. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, 

 productive. Leaves numerous, 6 inches long, 3 inches 

 wide, obovate ; margin serrate, glandular ; petiole 1 % 

 inches long, thick, glandless or with 1 or 2 large, reni- 

 fonn, reddish glands. Flowers midseason; white, 1^4 



140. Schmidt. (XD 



inches across ; borne in scattering clusters in twos and 

 threes. Fruit midseason ; 1 inch in diameter, cordate, 

 compressed, often slightly oblique ; cavity deep, wide, 

 flaring ; suture indistinct ; apex bluntly pointed ; color 

 purplish-black ; dots numerous, small, dark russet, ob- 

 scure ; stem slender, 1 % inches long, strongly adherent 

 to the fruit ; skin tough, separating from the pulp ; 

 flesh purplish-red, with dark-colored juice, meaty, crisp, 

 firm, mild, sweet ; of good quality ; stone semi-clinging, 

 ovate, oblique, with smooth surfaces. 



SHORT-STEM MONTMORENCY. Fig. 

 141. P. Cerasus. Flemish. Three distinct 

 Montmorencies are cultivated. Of these 

 closely related sorts, all of which originated at 

 about the same time in Montmorency Valley, 

 France, Montmorency is by far the most im- 

 portant and the only one now grown com- 

 mercially in all parts of the country. Large 

 Montmorency, quite similar to Montmorency, 

 is much less grown because 

 of its unproductiveness, al- 

 though in quality it is su- 

 perior. Short-stem Mont- 

 morency, now under discus- 

 sion, varies considerably 

 both in tree and in fruit 

 from either of the other two, 

 although it is frequently 

 taken for Large Montmo- 

 rency. The tree is smaller 

 and more drooping, but 

 usually more productive. 

 The fruit, similar in size to 

 that of Large Montmorency, 

 differs from it by being 

 more oblate and irregular; 

 in having a very deep wide 

 suture, which becomes an 

 indistinct line towards the 

 apex; in being seldom of so 

 dark a red even at perfect maturity; the 

 flavor is more sprightly; but the quality is not 

 so high. The variety is little grown in North 

 America, and is not so worthy for any pur- 

 pose as either of the two better-known sorts. 



Tree upright-spreading, round-topped, productive. 

 Leaves numerous, 4 inches long, 1% inches wide, 

 obovate, thick ; apex taper-pointed, base acute ; margin 

 doubly crenate, glandular ; petiole 1 inch long, glandless 

 or with 1-3 large, raised, reniform glands. Flowers late ; 

 white, 1 inch across ; borne in a few scattering clusters, 

 variable in number of flowers per cluster. Fruit mid- 

 season ; % inch in diameter, decidedly oblate, irregular 

 in outline, compressed ; cavity deep, wide, irregular, 

 flaring ; suture very deep near the stem but shallow at 

 the apex which is depressed ; color light to dark red ; 

 dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous ; stem very 

 thick, less than % inch long, adhering strongly to the 

 fruit ; skin tender and melting, sprightly, sour ; of fair 

 quality ; stone clinging, small, round, plump, blunt, with 

 smooth surfaces. 



SKLANKA. P. Cerasus. Sklanka is evi- 

 dently a cross between a cherry of the 

 Amarelle group and one of the Morellos, the 

 cherries having the light-colored skin and juice 

 of the Amarelles, while the dwarfish, round- 

 topped trees with pendant branches and 

 abundant, small leaves are typical Morellos. 

 The variety is in no way remarkable, unless 

 it be in hardiness; the pomologists of the 

 colder parts of the Mississippi Valley hold 

 that it is one of the hardiest of cherries. The 

 fruit is not on a par with that of a score of 



141. Short- 

 stem Mont- 

 morency. 

 (XD 



