198 THE CHERRY. 



by Pliny, who says : " Italy was so well stocked, that in less than 

 twenty-six years after, other lands had Cherries, even as far as Britain, 

 beyond the Ocean." The poet Lydgate, who wrote in or about 1415, 

 says that Cherries were then exposed for sale in the streets of Lon- 

 don, much as they are at the present day ; and in a curious poem, 

 entitled Lickpenny, is found the following allusion to them : 



" Hot pescodes one began to cry, 

 Straberjs rype and Cherrcys in the ryse." 



From England and Holland both seeds and trees were introduced 

 into this country, early after its first settlement. 



" Pliny mentions eight kinds of Cherries as being cultivated in 

 Italy when he wrote his Natural History, which was about 71, A. D. ;" 

 and from this date up to the present time, the varieties have been 

 gradually increasing, until we have now described, in various works, 

 upv.'ards of one hundred and fifty. 



The disposition of Americans to combine the useful with the or- 

 namental, has induced the planting (where the Cherry succeeds) of 

 many as ornamental or shade trees ; while examples of reward 

 pecuniary, from sale of fruit on trees so planted, has probably been 

 additional inducement. The symmetrical form and rapid growth of 

 the Cherry fit it well for a street tree throughout the country, and 

 we wish we could induce the following of example of our Connecti- 

 cut forefathers in 1760, and recently renewed by Prof. J. P. Kirt- 

 land, of Cleveland, Ohio, who has planted the Cherry as a street 

 tree upon the entire front of his grounds. Mr. Loudon, in his Ar- 

 boretum, gives an account of long avenues of the Cherry in Ger- 

 many ; and more recent travelers have written repeatedly of, and 

 described them in such manner, that it is not a little strange our 

 * people, as a body, have not as yet seen and acted upon the plan, to 

 the advantage of their pecuniary as well as social interests. Says 

 Mr. Loudon : " These avenues in Germany are planted by the de- 

 sire of the respective Governments, not only for shading the trav- 

 eler, but in order that the poor pedestrian may obtain refieshment 

 on his journey. All persons are allowed, to partake of the Cherries, 

 on condition of not injuring the trees ; but the main crop, when 

 ripe, is gathered by the respective proprietors of the land on which 

 it grows." 



In our view, this practice, if extensive in this country, v/ould ren- 

 der less of one crime in the summing up of her annals — i. e., the 

 robbing of orchards ; and possibly a law like that enacted in the ter- 

 ritory of Erfurth in 1795, would be beneficial. It provided that, in 

 case of the robber not being discovered, the district in which the of- 

 fence was committed should be obliged to make compensation for the 

 damage sustained. This made every individual hiterestcd in pre- 

 venting depredations on his neighbor's property. 



