THE ROSE, POME, AND DRUPE FAMILY. 465 



Victoria. Very large ; roundish oval, flattened at the top ; 

 greenish yellow, crimson on the sunny side; very rich and 

 sugary, with the flavour of the Stanwick. The finest of all, but 

 requires a warm climate or gentle forcing. 



White (Rivers' s). Large ; melting, juicy, and vinous ; re- 

 quires a warm dry soil : well adapted for pot-culture under 

 glass, or forcing. It is earlier than the New White. 



Byron. A late yellow variety from late melting Nectarine. 

 September. 



Dante. Large ; rather later than the last ; origin unknown. 



Darwin. An orange - coloured variety from " Rivers's 

 Orange " crossed with Stanwick. 



Humboldt. A large variety from Pine-apple. 



Advance. The earliest of all the green-fleshed varieties, the 

 fruit being of average size and having a rich Stanwick flavour. 

 It ripens a fortnight before Lord Napier, and promises to be 

 one of the best of all the early Nectarines. 



Welbeck. Seedling Nectarine, was raised at Welbeck by Mr 

 W. Tillery, and is the result of a cross between Elruge (which 

 it closely resembles) and the Balgowan (see ' Florist,' 1875, 



P- 13)- 



Cerasus (Cherries}. A genus of European shrubs or small 

 trees, partly evergreen, as the common Laurel (C. Lauro- 

 cerasus] and the Portugal Laurel (C. lusitanica), and partly 

 deciduous, as in the case of our native Cherries or Geans. It 

 does not appear to be generally known that two species of wild 

 Cherry are found in Britain, viz., C. avium, from which the 

 races of improved garden varieties known as Bigarreau and 

 Black-heart Cherries have originated; and C. vulgaris from 

 which the small-leaved garden Cherries known as Kentish, 

 May Dukes, and Morellos have sprung. Even in a wild state 

 the fruit of these species varies greatly in size and flavour, some 

 wild Geans being but little inferior to cultivated varieties. The 

 Hertfordshire Couronne, or Crown Cherry, is an example, and 

 this variety comes tolerably true from seed. The varieties of 

 C. avium have been much improved in this country, Mr 

 Thos. Andrew Knight having been one of the first to raise 

 seminal varieties in an intelligent manner ; and the variety 

 known as " Black Eagle " raised by him, together with Knight's 

 Elton and Early Black, are still first-class and standard kinds. 

 It is singular to observe that when the seedling " Black Eagle " 

 fruited for the first time in Mr Knight's garden, the fruit was 

 flavourless and bad, and the Fruit Committee of the Horticul- 

 tural Society condemned it as worthless. The tree was saved 

 from being beheaded and used as a stock, however, through 



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