TREES OF AMERICA. 151 



a number of them on a long spike or stem, 

 and not hanging down singly or in bunches 

 of two or three, like the common cherries, 

 that grow in gardens. They are bitter, and 

 not very good to eat ; nevertheless, the 

 birds devour them greedily ; and people use 

 them to make cherry-brandy, which is cer- 

 tainly pleasant enough to the taste, but, like 

 all other strong liquors, very poisonous and 

 destructive." 



" Uncle Philip, I have seen the pigs eat the 

 cherries, after they had been used to make 

 cherry-brandy, and were thrown out into the 

 street ; the pigs staggered about just as if they 

 were drunk." 



" I dare say they were, too ; for, by being 

 soaked in the brandy, the cherries become 

 very strong. Now there was some excuse 

 for the pigs, because they knew no better; 

 but what a shocking thing it is for a man to 

 drink liquor, which he knows very well will 

 take away his senses, and make him reel 

 about, and fall down in the dirt, like a beast. 

 The cherries had much better be left for the 

 birds, than made into such ruinous stuff." 



" Uncle Philip, when you began to tell us 

 about the wild cherry, you said that we 



