* Cherries at the West. 19 



the beginning of the present century. Even now, in the States south of 

 the Ohio, and in some places north of it, the Milam Apple (an inveterate 

 sprouter) and the cherry in question are mainly propagated by sprouts, or 

 suckers. In this county, nearly all of the old orchards of the Milam were 

 produced in this way; and there are hundreds of bearing ti^'es of the May 

 Cheriy that have been brought from Kentucky by the emigrants from that 

 State, and the sprouts from these are in great demand. It was natural for 

 Virginians, in going West, to take these fruits with them, from the fact of 

 their easy propagation, hardiness, and constant crops. It is a singular 

 fact, that although the sweet cherr}' is a native of the hot countries of Asia, 

 yet it will not stand the climate of our Southern States. 



In New York and the Eastern States, this cheriy attracted little atten- 

 tion, from the fact that nearly all the finer varieties could be grown, and 

 the common English, Kentish, and Morello produced good crops for cook- 

 ing-purposes. In New Jersey, the case v/as different : the finer cherries 

 being less hardy, the May Cherry became correspondingly popular, and, 

 having been sent out from Flushing, went under the name given it by the 

 late William Prince. 



In all the early settlements of the North-west, those from the Eastern 

 States carried with them the suckers of the Kentish and Morello ; while 

 those from south of the Ohio took the Early May. 



About 1840, the Buffalo and Rochester nurseries began to attract atten- 

 tion, and large amounts of fruit-trees were sent West from them. Among 

 these, the Duke, Heart, and Bigarreau Cherries held prominent position ; 

 but having been budded on the Mazzard stock, which is unsuited to the 

 climate, and more tender than the varieties worked on it, have mainly 

 proved a failure. Especially is this the case on the open prairies of the 

 North-west. The old Kentish and Morello, though hardy, failed to pro- 

 duce fair crops of fruit ; and people began to think the whole cherry 

 family unsuited to the climate. As the Eastern States became cleared up, 

 the sweet cherries became less valuable from the sudden changes from 

 heat to cold, and from attacks of the black gnat. 



It was supposed that a more hardy stock than the Mazzard would rem- 

 edy the evil, and the Morello was put on trial ; but its habit of throwing up 

 innumerable suckers made it unpopular. The Mahaleb had been used to 



